Every year, boating enthusiasts across the Southwest hitch watercraft to their vehicles and haul them down to Lake Mead, a Colorado River reservoir straddling Arizona and Nevada. This year, though, they’ll have to contend with dramatically low water levels. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the reservoir’s 2025 elevation is the third lowest it’s seen in a decade, and the Colorado’s meager snowpack isn’t expected to help matters. In response, the National Park Service is taking steps to ensure that visitors can still recreate on the lake this summer and beyond. But the future remains uncertain for the country’s largest reservoir. … With reduced supply, Lake Mead’s elevation is dwindling. At the end of May, the reservoir sat at just 1,057 feet above sea level, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. That’s 5 feet lower than the end of April, which was another 4 feet lower than in March.

Other Lake Mead and Lake Powell news:

• The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah): The forecast for Lake Powell continues to dwindle as experts say Western water use is ‘outpacing melting snowpack’
• Utah News Dispatch (Salt Lake City): Trump signs resolution allowing for expanded motorized recreation around Lake Powell