An environmental agency studying the effects of drought on a lake has found that the water levels in the lake are decreasing at a constant rate during the initial few months of the drought. the equation y = -0.6x + 346 represents the depth of lake (y) based on the number of weeks passed (x). what does the y-intercept represent in this scenario?

the depth of the lake at the beginning of the research

the depth of the lake after 10 weeks of research

the average depth of the lake during the research

the minimum depth of the lake during the research

the depth of the lake during the previous year