Lake Mead is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

formed by the

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

on the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

. It is located in the states of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, east of

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. Lake Mead provides water to the states of Arizona,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and Nevada as well as some of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, providing sustenance to nearly 20 million people and large areas of farmland. At maximum capacity, Lake Mead is long, at its greatest depth, has a surface elevation of above sea level, has a surface area of , and contains of water. The lake has remained below full capacity since 1983 owing to drought and increased water demand. On May 31, 2022, Lake Mead held of full capacity at , having dropped in June 2021 below the reservoir's previous all-time low of recorded in July 2016, and never returning to that level. By December 2024, following the implementation of water conservation measures, Lake Mead's water levels had risen by 16 feet again over two years.

History

In the area that was chosen to become Lake Mead, native Americans referred to as

Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as Ancestral Pueblo peoples or the Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, were an ancient Native American culture of Pueblo peoples spanning the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southe ...

settled in the area. Many archaeological sites were submerged by the creation of Lake Mead, including the most representative, which is referred to as the "Lost City". The lake was named after

Elwood Mead Elwood Mead (January 16, 1858 – January 26, 1936) was an American professor, government official, and engineer known for heading the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1924 until his death in 1936. During his tenure, he oversa ...

, who was the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1924 to 1936, during the planning and construction of the Boulder Canyon Project that created the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

and lake. Lloyd Joseph Hudlow, an engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, came to

Boulder City Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon. Boulder City is one of o ...

in March 1933 to assist in the survey, and ended up as the project manager. Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936, administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. The name was changed to the

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in Southeastern Nevada and Northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Gran ...

in 1947, and

Lake Mohave Lake Mohave is a reservoir on the Colorado River between the Hoover Dam and Davis Dam in Cottonwood Valley (Arizona/Nevada), Cottonwood Valley defining the border between Nevada and Arizona in the United States. This stretch of the Colorado Rive ...

and the

Shivwits Plateau The Shivwits Plateau is a large plateau in northwest Arizona, and in the northwest of the Grand Canyon region. Just like the Kaibab Plateau in the east Grand Canyon forces the course of the Colorado River encircling it, the Shivwits Plateau is th ...

were later added to its jurisdiction. Both lakes and the surrounding area offer year-round recreation options. The accumulated water from Hoover Dam forced the evacuation of several communities, most notably St. Thomas, Nevada, the last resident of which left the town in 1938. The ruins of St. Thomas are currently visible (as of May 23, 2022) via dirt road and hiking trail, due to Lake Mead's low water level. Lake Mead also covered the sites of the Colorado River landings of Callville and

Rioville, Nevada Rioville, Nevada (first known as Junction City) was a settlement founded by Latter-day Saints in what they thought was Utah Territory in 1869, now under Lake Mead and within Clark County, Nevada. History Junction City, was located on the Colora ...

, and the river crossing of

Bonelli's Ferry Bonelli's Ferry or Old Bonelli Ferry was a Colorado River ferry between Arizona and Nevada. It was located on the Colorado just above the Virgin River, near Junction City. The latter was later known as Rioville, Nevada in the late nineteenth cent ...

, between Arizona and Nevada. Six years after the dam's construction, the lake filled to an elevation of 1200 feet. At lower water levels, a high-water mark is visible in photos that show the shoreline of Lake Mead. The high-water mark is white because of the deposition of minerals on previously submerged surfaces.

Geography

Nine main access points to the lake are available. On the west are three roads from the

Las Vegas metropolitan area Clark County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (the county seat), Henderson, and North Las Vegas ...

. Access from the north-west from

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

is through the

Valley of Fire State Park Valley of Fire State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly located south of Overton, Nevada. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone, which formed from shifting ...

and the Moapa River Indian Reservation to the Overton Arm of the lake. The lake is divided into several bodies. The large body closest to the Hoover Dam is Boulder Basin. The narrow channel, which was once known as Boulder Canyon and is now known as The Narrows, connects Boulder Basin to Virgin Basin to the east. The

Virgin River The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long.Calculated with Google Maps and Google Earth It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the ...

and Muddy River empty into the Overton Arm, which is connected to the northern part of the Virgin Basin. The next basin to the east is Temple Basin, and following that is Gregg Basin, which is connected to the Temple Basin by the Virgin Canyon. When the lake levels are high enough, a section of the lake farther upstream from the Gregg Basin is flooded, which includes Grand Wash Bay, the Pearce Ferry Bay and launch ramp, and about of the Colorado River within the lower Grand Canyon, extending to the foot of 240 Mile Rapids (north of

Peach Springs, Arizona Peach Springs () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,098 at the 2020 census. Peach Springs serves as the administrative headquarters of the Hualapai people and is located on the Hual ...

). In addition, two small basins, the Muddy River Inlet and the Virgin River Basin, are flooded when the lake is high enough where these two rivers flow into the lake. As of February 2015, these basins remain dry. Jagged mountain ranges surround the lake, offering a scenic backdrop, especially at sunset. Two mountain ranges are within view of the Boulder Basin, the River Mountains, oriented northwest to southeast and the

Muddy Mountains The Muddy Mountains are a large mountain range in Clark County, Nevada. The Muddy Mountains surround a north section of Bitter Spring Valley, which also lies at the northwest perimeter of the Black Mountains, lying on a north shore of an east-w ...

, oriented west to northeast. Bonelli Peak lies to the east of the Virgin Basin. Las Vegas Bay is the terminus for the

Las Vegas Wash Las Vegas Wash is a 12-mile-long stream (an "arroyo" or "wash") which feeds most of the Las Vegas Valley's excess water into Lake Mead. The wash is sometimes called an ''urban river'', and it exists in its present capacity because of an urban pop ...

which is the sole outflow from the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

Drought and water usage issues

Lake Mead receives the majority of its water from snow melt in the Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah Rocky Mountains. Inflows to the lake are largely moderated by the upstream

Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the southwestern United States, located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, near the city of Page. The dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms L ...

, which is required to release around of water each year to Lake Mead under the

Colorado River Compact The Colorado River Compact is a 1922 agreement that regulates water distribution among seven states in the Southwestern United States. The contract is about the area within the drainage basin of the Colorado River. The agreement, originally pr ...

. Releases from Hoover Dam have been over of water each year, which has led to declining levels in Lake Mead since 2000. Outflow, which includes evaporation and delivery to Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico from Lake Mead is generally in the range of , resulting in a net annual deficit of about . Farmers in California's

Imperial Valley The Imperial Valley ( or ''Valle Imperial'') of Southern California lies in Imperial and Riverside counties, with an urban area centered on the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the S ...

hold some of the oldest water rights and receive the largest share of water as of 2024. Before the filling of

Lake Powell Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds of water when full, second in the United States to only the ...

(a reservoir of similar size to Lake Mead) behind Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado River flowed largely unregulated into Lake Mead, making Mead more vulnerable to drought. From 1953 to 1956, the water level fell from . During the filling of Lake Powell from 1963 to 1965, the water level fell from . Many wet years from the 1970s to the 1990s filled both lakes to capacity, reaching a record high of in the summer of 1983. In these decades prior to 2000, Glen Canyon Dam frequently released more than the required to Lake Mead each year. That allowed Lake Mead to maintain a high water level despite releasing significantly more water than it is contracted for. Since 2000, the Colorado River has experienced the

southwestern North American megadrought The southwestern North American megadrought is an ongoing megadrought in the southwestern region of North America that began in 2000. At least years in length, the drought is the driest multi-decade period the region has seen since at least ...

, with average or above-average conditions occurring in only five years (2005, 2008–2009, 2011 and 2014) in the first 16 years of the 21st century. Of any 16-year period in the last 60 years, 2000-2015 had the lowest water availability. Water intake towers at Hoover Dam

In June 2010, the lake was at 39% of its capacity, and on November 30, 2010, it reached , setting a new record monthly low. From mid-May 2011 to January 22, 2012, Lake Mead's water elevation increased from after a heavy snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains prompted the release of an extra from Glen Canyon into Lake Mead. Hooverdam2

In 2012 and 2013, the Colorado River basin experienced its worst consecutive water years on record, prompting a low Glen Canyon release in 2014 – the lowest since 1963, during the initial filling of Lake Powell – in the interest of recovering the level of the upstream reservoir, which had fallen to less than 40% capacity as a result of the drought. Consequently, Lake Mead's level fell significantly, reaching a new record low in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2014, its record low was on July 10, 2014. On June 26, 2015, Lake Mead reached another new record low when it fell to for the first time since the lake was filled, which risked triggering drought restrictions. If the lake is below the elevation of 1,075 feet at the beginning of the water year, an official shortage declaration by the Bureau of Reclamation will enforce water rationing in Arizona and Nevada. The water year begins October 1 to coincide with seasonal Rocky Mountain snowfall, which produces most of the Colorado River's flow. Lake Mead 2000 2015 comparison

Lake Mead's water level rebounded a few feet by October 2015 and avoided triggering the drought restrictions. The water level started falling in Spring 2016 and fell below the drought trigger level of 1,075 feet again in May 2016. It fell to a new record low of on July 1, 2016, before beginning to rebound slowly. Drought restrictions were narrowly avoided again when the lake level rose above 1,075 feet on September 28, 2016, three days before the deadline, and the Bureau of Land Reclamation did not issue a shortage declaration. A reprieve from the steady annual decline occurred in 2017, when lake levels rose throughout the year due to heavier than normal snowfall in the Rocky Mountains. As a result of the large snowmelt, the lake regained the water levels it had in 2015 with a seasonal high of . The seasonal low of in 2017 was close to that experienced in 2014, safely above the drought trigger. That level was still below the seasonal low experienced in 2012, and the lake was projected to begin falling again in 2018. Despite those and other predictions of an impending shortage determination by 2020, snowpack of 140% of average in the Upper Colorado River basin as of April 2019 resulted in 128% above average inflow into Lake Powell, resulting in water level on Lake Mead. In December 2019, Lake Mead water level reached , about above projections. As of April, 2020, the water level stood at , again benefiting from above average mountain snowpack (107% of average). From 2018 to early-2021, Lake Mead water levels remained well above the level that would trigger a shortage determination. However, by mid-2021 its level fell below the trigger elevation and was projected to keep falling through 2022, which led the Bureau of Reclamation to declare a water shortage in August 2021. On July 28, 2022, the level was , the lowest level since 1937 when the reservoir was initially filled. The lake has rebounded somewhat from its low point in 2022, but its level still remains below the drought threshold as of June 2024. As a result of the decreasing water level, marinas and boat launch ramps have either had to be relocated to another area of the lake or have closed down permanently. The Las Vegas Bay Marina was relocated in 2002 and the Lake Mead Marina was relocated in 2008 to Hemenway Harbor. Overton Marina and Echo Bay Marina have been closed due to low levels in the northern part of the Overton Arm. Government Wash, Las Vegas Bay, and Pearce Ferry boat launch ramps have been closed. Las Vegas Boat Harbor and Lake Mead Marina in Hemenway Harbor/Horsepower Cove remain open, along with Callville Bay Marina,

Temple Bar Marina Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

, Boulder Launch Area (former location of the Lake Mead Marina) and the South Cove launch ramp. Changing rainfall patterns, climate variability, high levels of evaporation, reduced snow melt runoff, and current water use patterns are putting pressure on water management resources at Lake Mead as the population relying on it for water, and the Hoover Dam for electricity, continues to increase. To lower the minimum lake level necessary to generate electricity from to , Hoover Dam was retrofitted with wide-head turbines, designed to work efficiently with less flow in 2015 and 2016. If water levels continue to drop, Hoover Dam would cease generating electricity when the water level falls below and the lake would stabilize at a level of when the water reaches the lowest water outlet of the dam. In order to ensure that the city of

will continue to be able to draw its drinking water from Lake Mead, nearly $1.5 billion was spent on building a new water intake tunnel in the middle of the lake at the elevation of . The tunnel took seven years to build under the lake and was put into operation in late 2015. According to a 2016 estimate, about 6% of Lake Mead's water evaporates annually. Covering 6 percent of Lake Mead with floating photovoltaics has a potential generating capacity of 3,400 megawatts, which is comparable to the capacity of Hoover Dam, and would reduce water lost to evaporation in the covered area by as much as 90%. A 2021 estimate stated that covering 10% of the lake's surface with foam-backed floating photovoltaics could result in "enough water conserved and electricity generated to service Las Vegas and Reno combined." In December 2021, with Lake Mead at 35% of capacity, Arizona, California, Nevada, and the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

signed an agreement to spend $200 million for 2022 and 2023 to subsidize water users who voluntarily reduce their usage or undertake capital projects to improve efficiency. Along with a variety of state and local regulations, this "500+ Plan" aimed to retain an additional in the reservoir. At the same time an agreement was reached with the

Gila River Indian Community The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) ( O'odham language: Keli Akimel Oʼotham, meaning "Gila River People", Maricopa language: Piipash) is an Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona, lying adjacent to the south side of the cities of ...

and the

Colorado River Indian Tribes The Colorado River Indian Tribes (, ) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the Colorado River Indian Reservation: the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo. The tribe has about 4,277 enrol ...

which was expected to save an estimated 11 vertical feet of reservoir water. In 2023 and 2024, several agreements between the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

, six water agencies from Southern California and the Fort Yuma

Quechan The Quechan ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended'), or Yuma, are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite ...

Indian Tribe formalized a commitment to reduce water use by 1.6 million acre-feet by the end of 2026. In December 2024, the Colorado River Board of California announced that 75% of this commitment had been achieved already, with California's water uses having reached "their lowest levels since the 1940s", and that Lake Mead's water levels had risen by 16 feet within two years. In February 2025, climatologists confirmed that although Lakes Mead and Powell are in better shape than they had been in recent years, they are still only about 35% full–a crisis situation.

Anthropological role in forensics

Severe drought lowers the level of the lake, affording

social anthropologists Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

opportunities to study indigenous dwellings that were previously submerged. Meanwhile, their

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

colleagues are routinely called in whenever relatively contemporary remains of people are revealed, to investigate scientifically who the deceased might have been in life, how they died, and how their bodies got to the lake. For example, the

2020–2023 North American drought A drought developed in the Western, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States in the summer of 2020. Similar conditions started in other states in August 2020, including Iowa, Nebraska and certain parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. At the sa ...

caused a series of unexplained human remains to be revealed, prompting speculation about how many more will be discovered as the water level recedes. However, this is not the first time such mysteries have surfaced at Lake Mead: * On or about June 16, 2011, a male body was discovered floating in Lake Mead near Callville Bay. * On May 1, 2022, a body was found in a barrel which may have been stuck in mud since the late 1970s or early 1980s. Identification efforts have not been successful. * On May 7, 2022, the remains of Thomas Erndt were found. Erndt died of an apparent drowning in 2002, but his body was never found. * By August 15, 2022, four more bodies had been found.

Recreation and marinas

Lake Mead provides many types of recreation to locals and visitors, including boating, fishing, swimming, sunbathing, and water skiing. Four marinas are located on Lake Mead: Las Vegas Boat Harbor and Lake Mead Marina (in Hemenway Harbor, NV) operated by the Gripentogs, and Callville Bay (in Callville Bay, NV) and Temple Bar (in Arizona). The area has many coves with rocky cliffs and sandy beaches. Several small to medium-sized islands occur in the lake area depending on the water level, the largest of which is Oberlink Island. The Alan Bible Visitor Center hosts the

Alan Bible Botanical Garden The Alan Bible Visitor Center is a visitor center located at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The visitor center features a 20-minute movie about the recreation area. There is also an array of exhibits, a gift shop, and a desert botanical gar ...

, a small garden of

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and other plants native to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

. The Grand Wash is a recreational area located in the north side of the lake. On October 28, 1971, Lake Mead hosted the 1st ever B.A.S.S

Bassmaster Classic The Bassmaster Classic (known as the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic for sponsorship reasons) is a tournament in the sport of professional bass fishing, organized by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. It was first held in 1971 on Lake Mead, N ...

. This fishing site was a "mystery lake" and the 24 anglers were not told of the location of the tournament until their plane was in the air. The "winner take all" payout of $10,000 was won by Bobby Murray of Arkansas. The ''Desert Princess'', operated by Lake Mead Cruises, is a three-level

paddle wheel A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by p ...

er certified by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 275 passengers. It cruises to the Hoover Dam five days a week.

B-29 crash

At the bottom of the lake is a

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

that crashed in 1948 while testing a prototype missile guidance system known as "suntracker". The wreckages of at least two smaller airplanes are submerged in Lake Mead.

Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam in popular culture

The 2018 novel '' Lords of St. Thomas'', by Jackson Ellis, tells the story of the last family to vacate the flooded town of St. Thomas in 1938, following construction of the

and creation of Lake Mead. Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and the wrecked B-29 play a large role in the setting of the video game '' Fallout: New Vegas''.

References

External links

* * * * * *
Lake Mead ENC Chart
{{authority control 1935 establishments in Arizona 1935 establishments in Nevada Colorado River

Mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

Landmarks in Arizona Landmarks in Nevada

Tourist attractions in Clark County, Nevada Reservoirs in Nevada