Blue Mesa Is So Low It’s No Longer Colorado’s Largest Lake — And a Drowned Town Is Coming Back

Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado's largest body of water, has dropped to [X]% of capacity, and it is no longer the largest lake in the state. As the water pulls back, the ruins of Iola, a town flooded when the reservoir was created in the 1960s, are showing again. Before the water came, the buildings had to go. Some were moved. Others were burned. Mildred Goodwin, who ran a resort in the valley, refused to move her home, and she sat on a hill and watched as it burned. In this video: what the drought is exposing right now, what Iola was, the families who lived there, and why Blue Mesa was built. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:15 The Lake Today 02:24 The Townsite Returns 03:38 Iola Before the Water 04:45 Ranch Country 07:02 The Colorado River Storage Project 08:07 The Roads Had to Move 09:15 Displacement 10:29 The Robbins Family 11:41 What Happened to Iola's Buildings 12:48 Mildred Goodwin's House 13:59 Building the Dam 15:16 A Lake for Play 16:51 Low Water, 2026 17:55 Everyday Impact 18:59 What the Lake Does 19:54 Sixty Years Later 20:54 Sources and Records 21:05 Massachusetts and Quabbin Reservoir ABOUT THE IMAGES Some scenes are illustrations or reconstructions of things that were never photographed, such as Iola before the flood. They are based on historical records, not on real footage. Have you been to Blue Mesa this year? What did you see along the shoreline? Tell us in the comments. MORE FROM BELOW THE WATERLINE The Lake Mead town that came back:    • Lake Mead Is So Low a Town Drowned in 1938...   Glen Canyon and Lake Powell:    • Lake Powell Just Hit a Record Low 22% — Gl...   Crater Lake's hidden volcano:    • Crater Lake Is 1,943 Feet Deep — When Sona...   Oscarville, the town under Lake Lanier:    • Oscarville The Town Under Lake Lanier That...   New documentaries every week about the places America's lakes are hiding. #bluemesa #colorado #history