Lake Mead, the largest U.S. reservoir, hit a record low of 1,040.4 feet above sea level. The Colorado River system, which supplies more than 40 million people across seven states plus tribal nations and Mexico, has seen both Mead and Powell drop to multi-decade lows after years of overuse, drought, and low snowpack. Federal officials recently proposed short-term cuts for California, Nevada, and Arizona after states failed to agree on long-term sharing.