Lake Mead is a different kind of lake than Lake Powell.  Mead is shorter (112 miles vs 186 miles), but its canyons are much deeper - its capacity is nearly 14% more than that of Lake Powell.  And Lake Mead's content is almost entirely dependant on Lake Powell's discharge.  The up-side is that Lake Mead's level became much less volatile after Lake Powell opened in 1965, as the graph will show.  The down-side is that Lake Mead is bound by contract to release water to Nevada, Arizona, California, and Mexico, regardless of whether Lake Powell can supply the required amount of water.  Residents and businesses in the southwest are in grave danger of life-altering water shortages if this drought continues.  And, since southern California produce fields are irrigated from this basin, more than just the southwest could be affected.

Displayed above is a graph (Lake Mead's recent elevation, not the recent economy) which opens a graph of Lake Mead's history since the initial filling in 1937.  The three photos with “bath tub rings” visually show the extent of the lake's decline.  The two sets of NASA satellite images are produced using different technologies - the first set is infrared images from 2000 and 2003, the other set opens images from 2000 and 2004 that can be toggled back and forth to show the lake's shrinkage.  2011 Update opens a 3-year graph of Mead's elevation.  Click a thumbnail to open its photo.