Dry days

36%

The share of Lake Mead’s water capacity actually filled with water. In 2000, the waters of Lake Mead—which spans parts of Nevada and Arizona—reached near the top of the Hoover Dam. Two decades later, the water level at the crucial reservoir has fallen 140 feet and reached its lowest point since the lake’s creation in the 1930s. Worsening drought conditions in the American West and Southwest are imperiling residents and agriculture.

40M

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s estimate of how many people rely upon the Colorado River for water.

4M

The number of farmland acres the waters of the Colorado River irrigate, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

97.36%

The share of the American West under drought conditions as of June 8, up from 64 percent last year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska.

0.85

Inches of rainfall in Las Vegas this year as of June 15, according to the National Weather Service. The city averages 2.7 inches of rainfall by this time each year.