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'Lowest point since 1967': Lake Powell's dry up captured by NASA satellite images

The lake now sits at 26% capacity, with water levels 166 feet below full pool, NASA said.

PAGE, Ariz. — The second-largest reservoir in the U.S. is continuing to dry up.

New NASA images show just how much Lake Powell has dried up over the past five years.

"On Aug. 22, the surface elevation was 3,533.3 feet, more than 166 feet below full pool," NASA said. "These natural-color Landsat images show the lake in summer 2017 vs. summer 2022."

The 2017 images were chosen by NASA because that was when the lake had the highest water levels in the past decade.

RELATED: 'Life beyond Lake Powell': Experts weigh draining Arizona's iconic lake amid worsening megadrought

NASA also provided a graph showing how far the lake's water levels have dropped since 1980.

"The red line marks “minimum power pool elevation”; below that water level, hydroelectric turbines at the dam can no longer generate energy effectively," NASA said.

Credit: NASA

RELATED: A boat ramp at Lake Powell used to reach the water. There's now a 50-foot drop to the rocks below

Water Wars

Water levels are dwindling across the Southwest as the megadrought continues. Here's how Arizona and local communities are being affected.

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