Jim Wilson / The New York Times
A view of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, near Boulder City shows canyon walls ringed with white mineral deposits indicating the drop in water levels.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 | 9:15 a.m.
Federal water managers let the closely watched and regulated surface level at Lake Mead go to a record low overnight, before guiding it back above a crucial drought shortage trigger point.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman Rose Davis said Wednesday a record low water level of 1,074.98 feet above sea level was reached a little before midnight Tuesday.
The level increased to 1,075.05 feet by 7 a.m.
Davis says several more drops below 1,075 feet are expected in coming weeks, but the lake level will rise by the end of the year to about 1,081 feet.
That's 6 feet above the trigger point that would require a percentage cut in water supplies to Arizona and Nevada.
The reservoir behind Hoover Dam is currently about 37 percent of capacity.
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