LOS ANGELES — Recent satellite images from NASA show the dramatic water loss that has occurred over the last 22 years at drought-stricken Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir and a lifeline for California, neighboring states and Mexico.
The images show how a deep blue strand of water snaking through the Nevada desert in August 2000 has drastically receded and narrowed amid the parched landscape by July of this year. Lake Mead and much of the Colorado River Basin are in the midst of a 22-year drought.
Water levels at Lake Mead — formed by the Hoover Dam — are at their lowest levels since 1937, when the reservoir was still being filled. As of July 18, the lake was at 27% capacity, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
