LA PAZ, Bolivia - Evaporation blamed on global warming has reduced Lake Titicaca, one of the world's highest navigable lakes, to its lowest level since 1949, authorities said Thursday.

Diminished rainfall and a rise in solar radiation have in the past four years led to critically low water levels that now threaten fish spawning areas and plant life, the Lake Titicaca Authority said in a statement.


Titicaca's waters have dropped 2.65 feet since April and flora and fauna are likely to suffer if they drop another foot, the statement said.

Navy Capt. Jorge Ernesto Espinoza told ATB television that South America's largest lake is receding by about an inch a week.