The body of a 42-year-old who leapt off a boat into Lake Mead was recently discovered during a drought in the lake. According to KLAS, authorities recognized Thomas Erndt, a Las Vegas resident who drowned in the reservoir on August 2, 2002, months after the bones were discovered.
Man Remains in Lake Mead Identified Through DNA
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Erndt's death was presumed drowned after he jumped from a boat and vanished into the reservoir. But authorities did not establish Erndt's cause of death or how he died. According to a statement by Clark County spokesperson Dan Kulin, the identification was based on investigation information, DNA evidence, and records from the original incident.
Remains in Lake Mead
On May 7, paddleboarders at Nevada's Lake Mead uncovered human bones buried in sand, according to a McClatchy News. The reservoir has been reduced by drought, and the remains are the second set to have been discovered since May 1.
At least five sets of human remains have been discovered in the lake. The discoveries began on May 1 when boaters, alerted by a woman's screams from the edge of the beach, discovered a barrel with a body inside.
Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Spencer said in May, "I think anybody can understand that there are probably more bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead." He said that it's just a matter of whether they were able to recover those.
A few days later, when Erndt's remains were found at Callville Bay , two sets of human remains were uncovered at Swim Beach a few weeks later.
Lake Mead Water Level Keeps Dropping
According to NASA, Lake Mead's water levels are following a 22-year downward trend and are at their lowest point since April 1937, when the reservoir was still being filled for the first time. As of July 2022, just 27% of Lake Mead's capacity had been reached.
Millions of people in seven states, tribal territories, and northern Mexico receive water from the largest reservoir in the United States. Now, it serves as a stark example of both climate change and what may be the worst extended drought in the US West in the past 12 centuries.
The drought is affecting 74 percent of the nine Western states, with 35 percent of the region experiencing extreme or exceptional dryness. In Colorado, the state that contains the headwaters of the Colorado River, 83 percent of the state is currently experiencing a drought, and several areas had below-average snowpack last winter.
Each year, around 10% of the water in Lake Mead originates from local precipitation and groundwater, while the remaining 90% comes from snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains that flows via Lake Powell, Glen Canyon, and the Grand Canyon before entering the Colorado River.
The management of the Colorado River basin by USBR and other organizations provides access to water and power to about 40 million people, as well as 4 to 5 million acres of agricultural land in the South.
Lake Mead is a well-liked boating destination and a national recreation area in addition to being a significant source of drinking water and irrigation for the Southwest. According to the National Park Service, five of the six boat launches were closed in July of 2022.
The Park Service stated on its website that the reshaping of the park's shorelines has been caused by declining water levels owing to climate change and 20 years of prolonged drought. The terrain and predicted drop in water levels make it increasingly difficult and expensive to develop launch ramps as Lake Mead continues to get smaller.
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