The Largest Reservoir in the U.S. Continues to Dry Up

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the U.S. located on the Colorado River, has dropped to an elevation of 317.1 meters, breaking the previous record and reaching its lowest water level in the 90 years since the reservoir was built. Prolonged drought, excessive water use, and extreme summer heat have created a severe water shortage crisis that not only threatens the drinking water supply for tens of millions of people along the river but also weakens the reservoir’s natural self-purification capacity as its water volume shrinks.