Trip To Lake Mead - 5/2006

The largest man-made lake in the US, Lake Mead, the reservoir created by Hoover Dam, has more than 500 miles of shoreline. It is part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, created in 1964, which also includes Lake Mohave, by Davis Dam. Lake Mead is named after Dr. Elwood Mead, a Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.

Lake Mead is the only lake in Nevada with outlet to the sea. The lake was created from the Colorado river, which flows into the Gulf of California.

About 90 percent of the water used in Las Vegas comes from Lake Mead and the rest comes from a deep groundwater aquifer beneath the Las Vegas valley.