Investigators believe the body has been a homicide victim since the 1980s, based on objects retrieved from the barrel, Spencer says. “The lake has dried up dramatically in the last 15 years,” Spencer said, noting that “it is possible to find extra bodies dumped in Lake Mead” as the water level drops further. “The barrel probably fell hundreds of meters off the coast then,” Spencer said, “but this area is now considered the shoreline.” Homicide researchers plan to consult scientists at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to determine if the erosion rate is consistent with the barrel being in fresh water for so long. The body underwent an autopsy on Monday morning, Spencer said. The autopsy results were not yet available Monday afternoon, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office. An estimated 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico rely on the water of Lake Mead, which is depleting at an alarming rate amid a severe drought fueled by climate change. As of Monday, the lake’s water level was about 1,054 feet above sea level – about 160 feet below the 2000 level when it was last considered complete. It is the lowest level recorded for the reservoir since it paid off in the 1930s. In August, the federal government declared an unprecedented shortage of water in the Colorado River, which supplies the reservoir. This has caused cuts in water consumption for the southwestern states since January. Last week, the low lake water level also exposed one of the reservoir’s original water intake valves for the first time. The valve has been in operation since 1971, but can no longer pump water, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which is responsible for managing the water resources of 2.2 million people in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas. Vegas. Water levels on Lake Powell – the country’s second-largest reservoir – have also plummeted and recently fell below a threshold that threatens not only downstream water supply but also hydropower generation for surrounding communities. In the West, extreme drought has already imposed a significant tax this year, with about 91% of the area at some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Observatory. Extreme and extreme drought, the two worst names, have spread to New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado – all states that are part of the Colorado River Basin. CNN’s Stephanie Elam contributed to this story.
