File:Lake Powell affected by drought, United States.jpg

English: These images, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 17 April 2020 and 17 April 2021, provide evidence for the drought affecting Lake Powell in the United States, the second largest artificial lake in the country. Lake Powell was created along the course of the Colorado River with the purpose of supplying water to Nevada, Arizona and California and to generate hydroelectric power at the Hoover Dam. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, this year’s spell of drought is the worst ever recorded in the Colorado River basin, and has caused the water level of Lake Powell to drop dramatically. In a recent report, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation predicts that the coming months will see the water level of Lake Powell drop so low as to threaten the supply of the Colorado River, which serves as a water source to a number of cities (e.g. Las Vegas) and agricultural areas. This situation may trigger the U.S. federal government to issue its first ever official water shortage declaration and prompt restrictions in Arizona and Nevada. With an average revisit time of five days at the equator, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites provide free and open data that can be used to monitor droughts and their impact on crucial ecosystems.