Lake Mead Falls To Lowest Level Since Hoover Dam's Construction

LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, NEVADA - JUNE 21: Visitors drive by a sign at Callville Bay warning boaters of low water levels as they prepare to launch a boat on June 21, 2021 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported that Lake Mead, North America's largest artificial reservoir, dropped to just over 1,070 feet above sea level over the weekend, the lowest it's been since being filled in 1937 after the construction of the Hoover Dam. As a result of low lake levels, the National Park Service has had to close some boat launch ramps and use pipe mats to extend others temporarily. The declining water levels are a result of a nearly continuous drought for the past two decades coupled with increased water demands in the Southwestern United States. The drought has left a white "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits left by higher water levels on the rocks around the lake. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)