Photos: Lake Mead in drought

Boaters travel through scenic Black Canyon in Lake Mead. The stark black-white line on the rock face reveals the drought’s toll on water levels.

Lake Mead officials have had to extend, and in some cases actually relocate, boat ramps and docks in the marina and at the Las Vegas Boat Harbor.

The lingering drought has brought Lake Mead to its lowest point ever, leaving more of the national recreation area’s Hoover Dam exposed.

As recently as 1983, Lake Mead’s waters rushed through the Hoover Dam like a desert Niagara Falls. Now, the water has dropped to just above 1,000 feet.

A silver lining to the drought’s toll on water levels, is a boost in tourism to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where a standup paddleboarder floats near the Hoover Dam.

The setting sun illuminates the historically low level of Lake Mead, which was created in the 1930s.

Boaters still head out on the lake to fish and explore the newly uncovered canyons and inlets of the shrunken lake. Above, carp crowd around the docks in the marina.

Bruce Nelson, 32, whose grandparents founded the first of several family-owned marinas in 1957, says Lake Mead is far from disappearing. “[E]ven with less water,” he says, “this is still one big, big lake.”

Lake Mead boasts a 450-mile shoreline that would stretch from San Diego north to Monterey if it were on the California coast.

As tourism continues to rise, Lake Mead officials plan to spend $2.3 million in launch construction projects in 2015. They have already spent $3.6 million over the last decade.

Archaeologist Eva Jensen stands on the foundation of a school in the old Mormon community of St. Thomas, at the northern tip of Lake Mead, which flooded the town when it was created. The recent drought has lowered the lake and exposed the town.

Archaeologist Eva Jensen examines the foundation of a home St. Thomas, now a popular site for hikers and explorers interested in the long-submerged ghost town.