The images, spanning the years 2000, 2021 and 2022, show once-full tributaries transformed into dry ravines. The lake, which supplies water to about 25 million people across the American West, is currently at its lowest level since it filled up in 1937. As of July 18, it is at just 27 percent of its capacity. Michael Karlowitz, managing editor of Nasa’s Earth Observatory, described it as “a stark illustration of climate change and a long-term drought that may be the worst in the western US in 12 centuries” in a post on the agency’s website. NASA Lake Mead Receding waters have closed recreational boat ramps and threaten hydroelectric power generation. They have also uncovered decades of secrets that were once hidden in the depths. A body in a barrel – believed to be the victim of a mob shooting – was recovered, as were items and rubbish left behind by long-time holidaymakers, while a Second World War-era boat was recovered from the shallows earlier in July. But what the drying mud has most starkly exposed is the devastating toll of the climate crisis and its rapid evolution. Lake Mead is just one part of the threatened Colorado River watershed, which provides water for about 40 million people, 5m acres of farmland and the plants, fish, animals and birds that call riparian ecosystems home. The entire system is now at 35% capacity. Excessive extraction has accelerated the decline of the system, which has also suffered from reduced snowmelt and hot temperatures drawing more moisture from the region. More than a third of the American West is now classified as in extreme drought, by the US Drought Observatory, with the threat of hot, dry days to linger for seasons to come. As major reservoirs along the Colorado River reach extremely low levels, including Lake Mead, the federal government has called on states that rely on the basin to make drastic cuts in their water use. But climate scientists believe the disaster is not a temporary situation. It is a systemic change that must be prepared for and adapted to. Cuts may be coming – but much more is needed to sustain the system as conditions intensify. “This is not a drought, this is a drought,” Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University, told the Denver Post, reflecting on the decline of the Colorado River. “This is not something we can expect. This is not something we can survive,” he said. “This is the new world we live in.”
