US Great Salt Lake hits new historic low for second time in a year

Scientists say expanding amount of dry lakebed could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe

The Utah Department of Natural Resources said in a news release the Great Salt Lake dipped on Sunday to 1,277.1 metres. AP

The Great Salt Lake in the US has hit a new historic low for the second time in less than a year, as the megadrought worsened by climate change continues to shrink the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi.

The Utah Department of Natural Resources said in a news release the Great Salt Lake dipped on Sunday to 1,277.1 metres — lower than the previous historic low set in October, which at the time matched a 170-year record.

Docks are shown empty at the Great Salt Lake Marina in January. The boats were removed last year to keep them from getting stuck in the mud. AP

Lake levels are expected to keep dropping until autumn or winter, the agency said.

Dwindling water levels at the giant lake to the west of Salt Lake City puts millions of migrating birds at risk and threatens a lake-based economy that’s worth an estimated $1.3 billion in mineral extraction, brine shrimp and recreation.

The expanding amount of dry lakebed could also send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe, scientists say.

The state's Republican-led legislature is trying to find ways to reverse the trend, but it won't be easy.

Water has been diverted away from the lake for years for homes and crops in the nation's fastest-growing state that is also one of the driest.

Nevada's Lake Meade at historic lows — in pictures

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  The penstock towers on the reservoir side of the Hoover Dam. In normal years, the water would be significantly higher.

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  Horseshoe Bend, a natural U-turn in the Colorado River downstream of Lake Powell.

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  Professor David Kreamer of the University of Nevada Las Vegas looks out over the Hoover Dam.

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  A wide shot Lake Mead and the Las Vegas Marina reveals how low the water levels are this year.

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  A stretch of the Colorado River, looking downstream from Horseshoe Bend.

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  The Hoover Dam was completed in 1936, creating Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US.

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  The chalk-white ring on the canyon walls reveals how much the water has dropped in Lake Mead in recent years.

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  A stretch of the Colorado River along Route 128 in Utah.

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  A dry stretch of the Colorado River bed outside of Moab, Utah.

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  A ring of white shows where the water level once reached on Lake Powell.

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  Fish swim in Lake Mead near the Las Vegas Marina.

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  Cory Olsen, 64, poses on his motorboat at a boat ramp on Lake Powell. Mr Olsen has been boating on the lake since he was 12 and is alarmed by the low levels.

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  Tourists gather at Horseshoe Bend, a natural U-turn in the Colorado River.

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  Joe Lapekas, owner of Lake Powell Paddleboards in Page, Arizona, looks out at the water.

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  Kayakers carry their boats down the rocky banks of Lake Powell. In normal years, they would be able to float their kayaks off the tarmac ramp.

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  An arid landscape along Route 128 in Utah.

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  Kayakers rest on the dry shore of the Colorado River in Horseshoe Bend.