Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, filled to nearly 100 percent capacity in May 2023, reaching levels not seen for four years. Since 2019, a prolonged period of extreme drought resulted in dwindling reservoir levels. In the early months of 2023, heavy rains and meltwater from an above-average mountain snowpack caused a notable turnaround.
On November 18, the lake stood at 31 percent capacity, according to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). By May 29, it was 98 percent full, and the tan fringe, or “bathtub ring,” around its perimeter had vanished. The images were acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 (left) and the OLI-2 on Landsat 9 (right).
A beautiful shot - fav! It is amazing what is revealed during a drought. In Derbyshire there is Ladybower Reservoir where in the 1990s I was able to follow an old road into the village of Derwent. All the buildings had been demolished, but their footprints could still be traced. Within a few months it had vanished below the water again.
Ian