Drought-stricken Lake Mead in Nevada exposes gruesome find as water continues to recede

As water recedes in a drought-stricken US lake, boaters and paddle-boarders have started making shocking discoveries on the newly exposed shoreline.

With drought plaguing parts of the US, a grim discovery has been made at the bottom of a lake in Nevada as water continues to recede.

Human remains were discovered at Lake Mead in Nevada – just days after another discovery of other human remains in a barrel at the newly exposed bottom of the lake.

Rangers from the US National Park Service (NPS) received a report of human skeletal remains discovered at Callville Bay in Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Saturday.

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Paddle-boarding sisters made the grim discovery of human remains on a newly surfaced sandbar.

It is understood two sisters were paddle-boarding on the lake near a former marina resort when they noticed bones on a newly revealed sandbar.

Park rangers responded to the scene and set up a perimeter around the remains.

The lake is receding due to drought.

Days earlier, boaters discovered skeletal remains inside a barrel at the bottom of Lake Mead which had been exposed by the water level drop. A severe drought has depleted its water levels so much that Las Vegas’ uppermost water intake became visible last week.

Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, around 40km east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity.

The body was found in a barrel. Picture: Shawna Hollister/KLAS

According to CNN, around 40 million people rely on water from the Colorado River and its two largest reservoirs – Lake Mead and Lake Power – where levels have fallen at an alarming rate over the past few years, amid a climate change-fuelled megadrought.

Local media reports that as of Monday, Lake Mead’s water level was around 320m above sea level, which is roughly 50m below its 2000 level, when it was last considered full.

It’s the lowest level on record for the reservoir since it was filled in the 1930s.

“We have never taken this step before, but the potential risk on the horizon demands prompt action,” assistant secretary of water and science Tanya Trujillo told reporters last week. “We need to work together to stabilise the reservoir before we face a larger crisis.”

Experts say as the water continues to drop, more grim discoveries are likely. Picture: Shawna Hollister/KLAS

Former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman told reporters on Monday the grim discovery of several human remains could be just the beginning.

“There’s no telling what we’ll find in Lake Mead,” he said. “It’s not a bad place to dump a body.”

Michael Green, a University of Nevada history professor, said: “I would be willing to bet there are going to be a few more bodies.”

It’s expected more bodies will be found.

In an interview with The Guardian, Geoff Schumacher, vice-president of the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas, said the lake is popular for swimmers and boaters, so also expects more bodies to be found as the water continues to drop.

“I think a lot of these individuals will likely have been drowning victims,” Mr Schumacher said, referring to boaters and swimmers who have never been found. “But a barrel has a signature of a mob hit. Stuffing a body in a barrel. Sometimes they would dump it in the water.”

– with Fox News