Photos Show Old Lake Mead Boat Slowly Sinking as Water Levels Recover

Recent photos on social media show that Lake Mead's rising water levels are inching toward another sunken boat.

After years of drought, Lake Mead, which is in Nevada and Arizona, reached drastically low levels last summer. However, water levels have since started to recover because of above-average precipitation and snowpack that melted throughout the summer. A shipwrecked speedboat in Government Wash, a designated undeveloped camping area at Lake Mead, has often been used as a symbol to document the lake's water levels in times of drought. The boat has nearly been reclaimed by the rising waters, and Lake Mead recreators are turning their eyes toward another sunken boat to document the lake's change.

Before and after photos of another wrecked speedboat shared on X, formerly Twitter, last week show a drastic change in the reservoir's water levels.

"BEFORE & AFTER: Another boat wreck taking on water again at Lake Mead," X account Mojo Adventures posted last Thursday. "This speedboat has been exposed since 2021 and is pictured on the left with levels at their lowest. Mead's slight recovery in 2023 can be seen on the right."

The first photo taken in August 2022 depicts the derelict boat abandoned on parched ground. Lake Mead water levels can be seen shimmering in the far distance. The second photo was taken this month. The boat is still stranded on the dry ground, but the lake's waters have started to encroach on it. Small plants also are more abundant in the second photo, another sign that water levels are recovering.

As of Friday, Lake Mead's water levels were at 1,066.38 feet, nearly 22 feet higher than last year at this time. However, the lake's levels have started to even out, with some days showing a slight decline in the water levels during the past week.

Experts believe the lake has finished its ascent and will level off before dropping slightly over the next few months. Despite the change in Lake Mead's water levels, there is still lots of improvement needed at the reservoir.

"It's worth noting that even though we have seen such a rise in Lake Mead, we are actually still below the 2021 levels," AccuWeather meteorologist Alex DaSilva told Newsweek. "We are much above last year's levels, but for 2021, 2018, 2019, we are still below those water levels. As good as this is, and it's wonderful news we have seen this big rise, we are still below where we would ideally want to be."

Lake Mead is now 34 percent full while Lake Powell, located in Utah and Arizona, is 38 percent, with only one week left in the water year, which runs from October 1 to September 30.

However, the lake is expected to rise again as fall and winter approach. In the past, Lake Mead typically declines throughout the summer due to drought and high temperatures, and then begins to rise again beginning in November. This year was an anomaly, as Lake Mead levels started to rise in earnest in May, when they typically start to recede.