The American West Dries Up

Alan Taylor
April 2, 2015
21 Photos
In Focus

Yesterday, California Governor Jerry Brown stood on a dry, bare hillside in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which would normally be deep under snow at this time of year, and announced an executive order aimed at dramatically reducing water usage statewide. The severity of the drought, now entering its fourth year, has already reached record levels in many places in California and across the West. Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Utah-Arizona border, is currently at 45 percent of capacity and is at risk of reaching the lowest level on record by September. California's snowpack, which generally provides about a third of the state's water, is already at its lowest level on record. Getty Images photographer Justin Sullivan traveled to lakes and reservoirs in California, Utah, and Arizona to capture the following scenes of an increasingly waterless West.

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A bleached "bathtub ring" is visible on the rocky banks of Lake Powell on March 28, 2015, in Lake Powell, Utah. As severe drought grips parts of the Western United States, a below-average flow of water is expected to enter Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two biggest reservoirs of the Colorado River Basin. #

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A tall bleached bathtub ring is visible on the banks of Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, on March 28, 2015. Lake Powell is currently at 45 percent of capacity and is at risk of seeing its surface elevation fall below 1,075 feet above sea level by September, which would be the lowest level on record. #

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Previous high water marks are visible on the twisting banks of Lake Powell in Lake Powell, Utah, on March 28, 2015. #

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Low water levels are visible behind the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, on March 28, 2015. #

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The Colorado River wraps around Horseshoe Bend on March 30, 2015, in Page, Arizona. #

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Water lines are visible in a nearly dry section of Lake McClure on March 24, 2015, in Coulterville, California. More than 3,000 residents in the Sierra Nevada foothill community of Lake Don Pedro who rely on water from Lake McClure could run out of water in the near future if the severe drought continues. Lake McClure is currently at 7 percent of its normal capacity and residents are under mandatory 50 percent water use restrictions. #

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Water trickles under the Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell on March 28, 2015, in Lake Powell, Utah. #

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Houseboats are dwarfed by the steep banks of Lake Don Pedro on March 24, 2015, in La Grange, California. #

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Lake Powell is viewed from an airplane window on March 30, 2015, above Page, Arizona. #

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A boat is dwarfed by the tall bleached bathtub ring on the rocky banks of Lake Powell on March 29, 2015, in Page, Arizona. #

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High water marks are exposed on the banks of Lake Powell in Lake Powell, Utah, on March 28, 2015. #

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A long ramp leads down to the Antelope Point Marina at Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, on March 29, 2015. #

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A bleached bathtub ring is visible on the banks of Lake Powell on March 28, 2015, in Lake Powell, Utah. #

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People walk on a beach that used to be the bottom of Lake Powell at Lone Rock Camp near Big Water, Utah, on March 29, 2015. #

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Former high water marks are visible on the banks of Lake Powell on March 28, 2015, in Lake Powell, Utah. #

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A boat navigates the waters of Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, on March 28, 2015. #

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The exposed shoreline of Lake Powell is seen on March 28, 2015, in Lake Powell, Utah. #

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Low water levels are visible at Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell on March 29, 2015, in Page, Arizona. #

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Water rings are visible on the banks of Lake Powell at the Wahweap Marina on March 28, 2015, in Page, Arizona. #

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Low water levels are seen in Lake Powell on March 28, 2015, in Lake Powell, Utah. #

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A paddleboarder floats by Lone Rock on Lake Powell on March 29, 2015, near Big Water, Utah. #

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