NASA satellite images show Lake Mead water levels plummeting to lowest point since 1937

Satellite images released by NASA this week show a dramatic drop in water levels over the last 22 years at Lake Mead.  

NASA confirmed that water levels in Lake Mead, located in Nevada and Arizona, are at their lowest since April 1937, when the reservoir was being filled for the first time.

As of Monday, Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, was filled to 27% capacity, according to NASA.  

The photos shared by the NASA Earth Observatory, taken in 2000, 2021 and 2022, show Lake Mead appearing to grow less and less full of water, even in the one-year span between 2021 and 2022. The image from 2000 shows swaths of Lake Mead full of water, while the image from 2022 only shows one section, known as Overton Arm, filled.

The lake's water levels have fallen nearly 160 feet since July 2000 and 26 feet since July 2021.