MEAD, LAKE

reservoir of Hoover Dam, one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, on the ArizonaNevada border, 25 miles (40 km) east of Las Vegas, Nev., U.S. Formed by the damming of the Colorado River, Lake Mead extends 115 miles (185 km) upstream, is from 1 to 10 miles (1.6 to 16 km) wide, and has a capacity of 31,047,000 acre feet (38,296,200,000 cubic m) with 550 miles (885 km) of shoreline and a surface area of 229 square miles (593 square km). It was named after Elwood Mead, commissioner of reclamation (192436). Lake Mead National Recreation Area, established in 1936, has an area of 2,338 square miles (6,055 square km) and extends 240 miles (386 km) along the Colorado River, from the western end of Grand Canyon National Monument to below Davis Dam (1950). It includes Lake Mohave and part of the Hualpai Indian Reservation.