<\/p>\n
Human remains were found again in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir that continues to shrink amid a decades-long drought, officials announced Sunday.<\/p>\n
According to the National Park Service, someone made the discovery at the park’s swimming beach at 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 recede to historic levels.<\/p>\n
With the help of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department dive team, park rangers responded and set up a perimeter to recover the remains, the NPS said.<\/p>\n
Officials have said water levels in the reservoir are so low they could reach “dead pool” status, meaning the water is too low to flow downstream.<\/p>\n
The minimum water surface level needed to generate power at Hoover Dam is 1,050 feet, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Anything below that is considered a “dormant pool,” and a “dead pool” exists when the water level reaches 895 feet, according to the federal agency.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Images released by NASA show the loss of water in Lake Mead, Nevada on July 3, 2022 from July 6, 2000.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NASA<\/span><\/p>\n The result of the decrease in the water level is that human bodies and parts have been emerging.<\/p>\n Human skeletal remains were found near the lake’s Callville Bay on May 7, according to the National Park Service. The discovery came a week after a man’s decomposing body was found in a steel barrel near the reservoir’s Hemenway Fishing Pier, more than 20 miles from Callville Bay, according to the LVMPD.<\/p>\n Human remains were also found on Swim Beach on July 25.<\/p>\n Officials began an investigation into the most recent discovery Saturday, and the Clark County Medical Examiner has been contacted to determine the cause of death.<\/p>\n ABC News’ Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.<\/p>\n