\n Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has fallen to a record low \u2014 yet another sign that the Colorado River system is spiraling further into crisis.\n <\/p>\n
\n Water levels on Thursday in Lake Mead dropped to 1,040.5 feet<\/a>, below the previous record low of 1,040.58 feet set in July 2022, according to data published by the US Bureau of Reclamation Friday. The lake is now lower than it\u2019s ever been since it was created nine decades ago.\n <\/p>\n \n \u2600\ufe0f Get your forecast in the CNN Weather app<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBreaking the record is further evidence of the uncharted territory that the (Colorado River) Basin now finds itself,\u201d said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University.\n <\/p>\n \n Lake Mead, which stretches along the Utah-Arizona border, was formed in the mid-1930s when the Hoover Dam was constructed on the Colorado River. The lake supplies water to more than 20 million people.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s one of the most important reservoirs on this vital waterway, along with Lake Powell, which experts also fear could reach record low levels in the next few weeks.\n <\/p>\n \n In July, the combined water level in the two reservoirs tumbled to a historic low<\/a>. Together, the reservoirs haven\u2019t been so low since 1957, during the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, before Lake Powell even filled up.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cLake Mead and Lake Powell are essentially the region\u2019s savings account, and we\u2019ve been drawing it down for years because the river has been overallocated while enduring 25 years of persistent drought,\u201d said Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at Arizona State University\u2019s Kyl Center for Water Policy.\n <\/p>\n \n A spokesperson for the Bureau of Reclamation said that it and the Department of the Interior remained \u201ccommitted to reducing the collective risk of both Lake Powell and Lake Mead falling below critical elevations to protect critical infrastructure to continue to meet the water and hydropower needs of the basin.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The decline of these vast reservoirs underscores the perilous situation of the Colorado River. The 1,400-mile artery is the lifeblood of the Southwest, irrigating more than 5 million acres of farmland, generating enough electricity to power around 700,000 homes and providing water for 40 million people. It\u2019s also a vital wildlife habitat and a key tourist draw.\n <\/p>\n \n Its headwaters start in the Rocky Mountains, fed by snowpack, before it winds through seven states, filling Lake Mead and Lake Powell on its way to the Gulf of California.\n <\/p>\n \n Yet years of heavy demand combined with climate change-driven hotter, drier weather and a dearth of snow have pushed the river system into crisis \u2014 and the impact on Lake Mead has been significant.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere was very little snowpack last winter, and we\u2019ve had one of the lowest runoff years on record,\u201d said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University.\n <\/p>\n \n The reservoir has been on a more than 20-year downward trajectory. Receding water has revealed distinctive \u201cbathtub rings\u201d that show previous water levels etched into its rocky shoreline, as well as gruesome discoveries, including a decades-old murder victim in a barrel found in 2022<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The shrinking lake also affects tourism. Lake Mead was designated the US\u2019s first national recreation area<\/a> in 1964, and its sparkling waters and rugged mountains have long drawn people for boating, hiking, fishing and camping.\n <\/p>\n \n Lake Mead\u2019s record low comes as states face steep cuts in their water use from the Colorado River.\n <\/p>\n \n The seven states that rely on the drought-stricken waterway \u2014 California, Nevada and Arizona in the lower basin, and Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado in the upper basin \u2014 have been locked in fraught negotiations over how to share its declining water for years. Deadlines have come and gone, and no deal has been reached.\n <\/p>\n