Human remains have been found again in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, which continues to shrink amid a decades-long drought, officials said Sunday.
According to the National Park Service, someone made the discovery on the beach at Swim Beach Park in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, on the Nevada side, around 11:15 a.m. Saturday. This is the fourth time since May that human remains have been found in Lake Mead, where water levels continue to drop to historic levels.
With the help of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s dive team, park rangers responded and set up a perimeter to recover the remains, the NPS said.
Officials said water levels in the reservoir are so low they may reach a “dead pool” condition, meaning the water is too low to flow downstream.
The minimum water surface level required to generate power at Hoover Dam is 1,050 feet, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Anything below that is considered an “inactive pool,” and a “dead pool” exists when the water level reaches 895 feet, according to the federal agency.
Satellite images released last month by NASA show side-by-side comparisons of Lake Mead, one taken on July 6, 2000, and the other more than two decades later on July 6 of this year.
Images released by NASA show the loss of water in Lake Mead, Nevada as of July 3, 2022, since July 6, 2000.
NASA
The result of the receding water level is that bodies and human parts float up.
On May 7, human skeletal remains were found near Calville Bay on the lake, according to the National Park Service. The discovery came a week after a man’s decomposed body was found stuffed into a steel barrel near the reservoir’s Hemenway Fishing Pier, more than 20 miles from Calville Bay, according to LVMPD.
On July 25, human remains were also found at Swim Beach.
Authorities opened an investigation into the latest discovery Saturday and have contacted the Clark County medical examiner to determine the cause of death.
ABC News’ Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.
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