Skeletal remains found in receding Lake Mead for SIXTH time as water level dips to historic low
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: This week saw the sixth time this year that human remains were discovered in the receding Lake Mead as water level drops to historic low. On Wednesday, October 26, the National Park Service verified that a diver's discovery of a human bone led a dive team from the park to the location of the skeletal remains.
The Clark County Coroner's Office is still looking into previously discovered fragmentary sets of remains to establish how many persons in total have been rescued from the depths this year. It is unknown whether the bone and the remains are from the same person. Officials don't suspect foul play, in contrast to other finds like the first body, which was discovered in a barrel in May and is thought to be connected to a mafia killing in the 1970s.
RELATED STORIES
Medical examiners later determined that one set of bones found in the Callville Bay region belonged to father Thomas Erndt, 42, who drowned in 2002. This year has seen the discovery of a number of additional historical artifacts, including a sunken ship from the Second World War that was built to transport troops into beachfront combat during deployment at Normandy. For the first time in decades, a B-29 aircraft that has been obscured by the depths is beginning to emerge. As water levels continue to drop, more artifacts and bones are anticipated to be found. "You will find things in the lake. It’s inevitable,” Michael Green, an associate professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said this summer that the destruction of the area flooded by the artificial lake was unavoidable because of the amount of archeological sites there.
Even so, the drought has caused more harm than it has created opportunities for discovery. The results are signs of the severe drought conditions afflicting the American west, which are only predicted to worsen over the next few years. “It’s been sad to watch the lake drop,” Green said, adding: “The islands appear, the bathtub ring, the marina being moved out further and further.”
The National Park Service reports that drought conditions have also had an impact on lake recreation, with some sites and boat launches having to close as a result of low water levels. It is a component of the vast, severely drought-stricken Colorado River basin, and in recent years, it has decreased by hundreds of feet, getting dangerously close to levels where the river cannot flow. Levels have slightly recovered since this summer's record-breaking lows, and Lake Mead is presently 28% full. About 1.3 million people can get their electricity from Lake Mead, which is a major supply of water for around 25 million people. Both of these resources are threatened by drought and overuse.