The images above are natural-color images that were acquired by Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 on July 6, 2000, and July 3, 2022. The detailed images in the series listed below also consist of a view from Landsat 8 on July 8, 2021 (middle). Light-colored fringes show up along the shorelines in 2021 and 2022. These are mineralized areas of the lakeshore that were previously underwater when the reservoir was filled better to capability. The phenomenon is typically referred to as a “bathtub ring.”
July 6, 2000– July 3, 2022
In the chart below, the lake elevation information comes from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), which manages Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and other parts of the Colorado River watershed. Since July 18, 2022, the water elevation at the Hoover Dam was 1041.30 feet (317.4 meters) above water level; the water elevation at the end of July 2000 (around the time of the Landsat 7 image above) was 1199.97 feet (341 meters). Lake levels at the dam must stay above 1000 feet to continue operating hydropower turbines at regular levels.
At optimum capability, Lake Mead would reach an elevation 1,220 feet (372 meters) near the dam and would hold 9.3 trillion gallons (36 trillion liters) of water. The lake last approached full capacity in the summers of 1983 and 1999.
December 1, 2000– 2022
About 10 percent of the water in Lake Mead originates from local precipitation and groundwater each year, with the rest coming from snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains that streams down the Colorado River watershed through Lake Powell, Glen Canyon, and the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River basin is handled by USBR and other companies to provide electric power and water to approximately 40 million individuals– most especially the cities of San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles– and 4 to 5 million acres of farmland in the Southwest. The river water is allotted to states (including tribal lands) and Mexico through laws like the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
Above Lake Mead, Lake Powell is currently filled to simply 27 percent of capability, and the entire Colorado river system stands at 35 percent. USBR announced in August 2021 that state water allocations would be cut in 2022; even more modeling and settlement are underway for 2023 allotments. In June 2022, USBR released an emergency demand to the Colorado River basin states to decrease water usage by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet over the next 18 months.
In addition to functioning as a major drinking and watering source for the Southwest, Lake Mead is a nationwide recreation location that is particularly popular with boaters. According to the National Park Service, five of 6 boating ramps/launches are now closed. “Declining water levels due to environment modification and twenty years of ongoing dry spell have actually reshaped the parks coastlines,” the Park Service said on its site. “As Lake Mead continues to decline, extending launch ramps ends up being more tough and more costly due to the topography and projected decline in water levels.”
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, utilizing Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey and lake elevation information from the Bureau of Reclamation.
July 6, 2000
July 3, 2022
Water levels in Lake Mead are at their lowest given that April 1937, when the tank was still being filled for the first time, continuing a 22-year downward trend. Lake Mead was filled to just 27 percent of capacity as of July 18, 2022.
As the biggest reservoir in the United States, Lake Mead provides water to countless individuals throughout 7 states, tribal lands, and northern Mexico. In addition, it likewise currently serves as a stark illustration of environment modification and a long-lasting drought that might be the worst in the U.S. West in 12 centuries.
This extremely low water level comes at a time when 74 percent of 9 Western states deal with some level of drought; 35 percent of the location remains in remarkable or extreme drought. In Colorado, the area of the headwaters of the Colorado River, 83 percent of the state is now in dry spell, and in numerous locations, the snowpack from last winter season was listed below average.
In the chart below, the lake elevation information comes from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), which manages Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and other portions of the Colorado River watershed. As of July 18, 2022, the water elevation at the Hoover Dam was 1041.30 feet (317.4 meters) above sea level; the water elevation at the end of July 2000 (around the time of the Landsat 7 image above) was 1199.97 feet (341 meters). About 10 percent of the water in Lake Mead comes from local rainfall and groundwater each year, with the rest coming from snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains that streams down the Colorado River watershed through Lake Powell, Glen Canyon, and the Grand Canyon. In addition to serving as a significant drinking and irrigation source for the Southwest, Lake Mead is a national leisure location that is particularly popular with boaters. “As Lake Mead continues to recede, extending launch ramps becomes more tough and more costly due to the topography and predicted decrease in water levels.”
