{"id":16573,"date":"2026-08-19T21:50:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16573"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:50:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:50:51","slug":"dropping-water-at-lake-mead-just-exposed-human-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16573","title":{"rendered":"Dropping Water at Lake Mead Just Exposed Human Remains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>Visitors at Lake Mead recently found human bones on a dry beach. The reservoir recently hit its lowest water level on record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">eng Hui\/Xinhua via Getty Images<!-- --> (Photo: Zeng Hui\/Xinhua via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Updated August 19, 2026 03:45PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A visitor to Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA) discovered human remains on August 16 on a newly exposed stretch of shoreline.<\/p>\n<p>The grisly discovery comes as the country\u2019s largest reservoir has hit its lowest point since it was opened almost 90 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The office of public information for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) confirmed the discovery to <em>Outside.\u00a0<\/em>\u201cOn August 16, at approximately 3:58 P.M., LVMPD received a call of human remains at Lake Mead National Park,\u201d a spokesperson told\u00a0<em>Outside.\u00a0<\/em>\u201cA non-criminal, dead body report was taken for the remains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The National Park Service later confirmed in an email statement that there was no indication of criminal activity.<\/p>\n<p>The discovery was reported by a Las Vegas woman, who told <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.8newsnow.com\/news\/local-news\/woman-friends-discover-potential-human-remains-at-lake-mead-in-las-vegas\/\">local CBS News affiliate 8NewsNow<\/a> her friend was shifting through the shoreline at Lake Mead\u2019s Boulder Beach when he picked up a human jawbone with teeth still attached. Additional bones were spotted nearby along the shoreline. The group called authorities, who temporarily closed the area to investigate.<\/p>\n<p>No information has been released about the identity of the person, how long the remains had been in the reservoir, or the circumstances of the person\u2019s death. If possible, identification will be determined by the Clark County coroner\u2019s office, though the process can take several months.<\/p>\n<h2>A History of Discoveries at Lake Mead<\/h2>\n<p>The discovery of human remains on August 16 is not the first at Lake Mead or Boulder Beach. In 2022, several sets of human remains surfaced when water levels fell to then-record lows, including bones and clothing that were found inside a metal barrel near Hemingway Harbor. Other remains, later believed to be from people who had drowned earlier, were also found.<\/p>\n<p>These grisly discoveries are a macabre product of the drought that has gripped much of the Southwestern United States for the last 26 years. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both of which are fed by the Colorado River, have seen water levels consistently drop since 2000.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs lake levels continue to drop, new parts of the lakebed will be uncovered as a result,\u201d Gina Gilson, PhD, an assistant professor and interim director of Utah State University\u2019s Center for Colorado River Studies, told\u00a0<em>Outside.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cThere were many cultural sites and artifacts that are now underwater, and there\u2019s a possibility that some of those are accessible and visible again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The dropping waters have also exposed a wide array of other discoveries, from <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1Vkx-1ESfwA\">sunken boats<\/a> to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/video\/1144334\">artifacts from bygone eras<\/a> of U.S. history.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, investigators looked into the remains that were located inside the metal barrel in Hemingway Harbor. They determined that the individual had died from a gunshot wound, and was likely dropped in the lake in the seventies or eighties.<\/p>\n<h2>Crisis Levels for Two Reservoirs<\/h2>\n<p>According to an <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/lc\/region\/g4000\/weekly.pdf\">August 2 hydrologic report<\/a> by the Bureau of Reclamation, Lake Mead is at 27 percent of its total capacity, while Lake Powell, the Colorado River\u2019s other major reservoir, is 23 percent full.<\/p>\n<p>The entire Colorado River system sits at just 32 percent of of its normal capacity. It\u2019s a near-record low that matches measurements from July 2022\u2014a water level drop Lake Mead hadn\u2019t seen since March 1937, when the reservoir was still filling for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a significant wake-up call,\u201d J.B. Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/09\/us\/lake-mead-water-level-record-low.html\">told<\/a> <em>t<\/em><em>he New York Times.\u00a0<\/em>\u201cWe need to have long-term solutions that are going to get us away from the precipice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the receding water levels have the potential to impact more than just additional discoveries, says Gilson. She points to a key elevation: 950 feet above sea level, or the level below which Lake Mead would be too low for the Hoover Dam to generate electricity. The Hoover Dam provides electricity for roughly 1.3 million residents across California, Nevada, and Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrently, Lake Mead sits around 1,039 feet in elevation, and we still have around 89 feet to go,\u201d Gilson says. But she cautions that \u201csignificant efforts\u201d are needed to avoid reaching that threshold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year was a bad water year, and water levels will continue to fall,\u201d she says. \u201cConditions reflect the fact that we have over-allocated the river and are over-using relative to what Mother Nature provides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/environment\/lake-mead-human-remains\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visitors at Lake Mead recently found human bones on a dry beach. The reservoir recently hit its lowest water level on record. eng Hui\/Xinhua via Getty Images (Photo: Zeng Hui\/Xinhua via Getty Images) Updated August 19, 2026 03:45PM A visitor to Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA) discovered human remains on August 16 on a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}