Lake Mead and Drought

Lake Mead supplies water for Arizona, California, Mexico, and other western states. On June 23, the water level fell to 1075 feet, a record low. In 2000, for comparison, the water level was at 1214 feet. A 15-year drought and increased demands for water are to blame for the critical status of the water supply. The difference in 15 years is seen in this pair of images of the western part of Lake Mead, acquired June 21, 2000 by Landsat 7, and June 21, 2015 by ASTER. The images cover an area of 22.5 x 28.5 km, and are located at 36.1 degrees north, 114.7 degrees west.

Click on thumbnails below for full resolution images.

Lake Mead 2000 Type: (JPG) Size: (436,042 bytes) Resolution ( 1,900 x 1,500 )

Lake Mead 2015 Type: (JPG) Size: (507,000 bytes) Resolution ( 1,900 x 1,500 )