Dani Masten: Latest News

July 6, 2000 - July 3, 2022 (NASA) LAKE MEAD, Ariz. - A megadrought impacting the Southwest continues to deplete water levels in Lake Mead, making areas that were once underwater now visible from space.NASA released a series of images Wednesday that showed the deterioration of the lake’s level over the last two decades.The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said water stages are near levels last seen in April 1937, and it’s estimated the reservoir is at 27 percent of capacity.The series of images show an increase in light-colored fringes along the shoreline, which indicates the depleting water levels and the increasing visibility of land.Lake Mead satellite pictures since the year 2000 show the decreasing water level.

A sunken boat is re-emerged as unprecedented drought reduces Colorado River and Lake Mead to critical water levels on September 18, 2022 in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) Skeletal remains found in a severely dry Lake Mead near Las Vegas last year have been identified as those of a man who vanished from the area in the 1970s, officials say. Donald P. Smith of North Las Vegas was 39 at the time of his reported drowning in April 1974, according to a news release from the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner."The identification was based on DNA analysis and reports from the original incident," the office said.

FILE IMAGE - The relatively arid desert is viewed at 33,000 feet on May 19, 2022, over Lake Mead, NV. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS - Lake Mead, a drought-stricken Colorado River reservoir located outside of Las Vegas, has been under full capacity for decades — and once again has dropped to a new low since the 1930s.The Colorado River pools behind Hoover Dam to create Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States that was developed in 1936, according to the National Park Service. Lake Mead, and another falling Colorado River reservoir called Lake Powell, are part of a system that provides water to more than 40 million people and businesses in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and across the southern border in Mexico.The lake has made national headlines in recent months after the discovery of multiple bodies in the lake due to dropping water levels.MORE: Human remains resurfacing at Lake Mead, along with interest in Jimmy Hoffa’s 1975 disappearanceThe water levels at Lake Mead, situated between Nevada and Arizona, have fluctuated over the years, according to the National Parks Service.