Back in 1985, the Venezuelan government flooded the small village of Potosi to create the Uribante-Caparo water reservoir. The only structure visible after the flooding was the steeple of the 82 foot church that stood in the center of the village. The image above was taken in January 2009.
Venezuela generates almost 70% of it's energy from hydroelectric power plants and this reservoir provided some of that power for the area.
Unfortunately, Venezuela has been experiencing a drought brought on by the effects of El Nino and Global warming. This is what the reservoir looked like in February 2010:
via National Geographic
A similar situation occurred in Spain in 2008:
Back in the 1960's, the town of Sant Roma in the Catalonia region was flooded to create a water reservoir. Severe drought drained the reservoir in 2008 and the region was forced to import drinking water from France. They are working to address the problem with a desalinization plant but the drought, and the lack of water, continues. Barcelona ran out of water earlier this year, resulting in the closing of all city fountains and the implementation of strict water usage requirements.
So at least 2 huge reservoirs, both full of water for the last 25 years (40 years in Spain), now completely dry. But that whole "Global Warming" theory? Yeah, that's just a bunch of hooey.
Also via National Geographic
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