Lake Mead Falls to 1,040.98 Feet as NPS Warns Boaters of Emerging Hazards
Updated
Updated · Fox 5 Las Vegas · Aug 4
Lake Mead Falls to 1,040.98 Feet as NPS Warns Boaters of Emerging Hazards
3 articles · Updated · Fox 5 Las Vegas · Aug 4
Summary
Lake Mead stood at 1,040.98 feet on Aug. 3, just inches above its record low of 1,040.58 feet set in July 2022, prompting fresh safety warnings for boaters.
Dropping water is exposing hazards across the reservoir — a flooded mountain range over the old Colorado River valley — including submerged rock spires, mesa tops and near-surface rocks.
National Park Service crews are patrolling and placing buoys, including in the narrows, while warning that markers and Hemenway Harbor Marina's no-wake buoys may shift with fluctuating levels.
Boaters in coves and near shore are urged to slow down, use a spotter, carry lake-bottom nautical maps and keep Marine Band 16 or satellite communications because cell service is unreliable.
GPS coordinates are now the preferred way to report newly exposed obstacles to the Park Service, which says precise locations help crews mark hazards faster as the reservoir nears another historic low.