Second World War landing craft emerges on bed of Lake Mead as water levels drop to their lowest in more than fifty years due to megadrought

Via The Daily Mail

New photos show how Lake Mead’s waters have dropped to their lowest levels in history, revealing objects that have laid hidden beneath the surface for years.

Among the latest finds to be revealed by the receding waters is a World War II era landing craft, the same kind that dropped American troops on the Normandy beaches on D-Day in 1944.

The boat – a Higgins landing craft – was previously about 185 feet beneath the surface of the lake, but now rests halfway out of the water.

Water levels in Lake Mead – the largest reservoir in the US, which is formed by the Hoover Dam River and sits about 24 miles from Las Vegas – have reached their lowest level since 1971.

Levels have been declining for the past few years, as a result of the ongoing megadrought in the southwestern US, as well as increasing demand for water.

In addition to the Higgins craft and a number of other shipwrecks, the skeletal remains of several bodies that some suspect to be victims of Las Vegas’ notorious mob past have been found along the lakes new shorelines.

The landing craft was revealed under one-mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor. It was one of thousands manufactured by Higgins between 1942 and 1945 to transport American troops during World War II.

It is unclear if the Higgins found in Lake Mead saw duty overseas, but after the war it was for surveying of the Colorado River, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The boat was then sold to one of the lake’s marinas, before eventually being sunken and used as a breakwater beneath the surface, according to a representative from Las Vegas Scuba, which used to conduct dive tours of the wreck.

‘As water levels continue to fluctuate and decline, we know that this boat may come to the attention of park visitors both new and returning,’ the National Park Service said in a statement, ‘Lake Mead hopes everyone has the opportunity to learn more about its history and ask that as visitors enjoy the site, they leave it as they found it to avoid damaging the boat.’

As of Friday, the water in in the lake was 1,043.5 feet above sea level. That is 4.5 feet lower than one month ago, over 25 feet down from the same time last year, and at least 54 feet lower than it was two years ago.

The record low water levels are a result of the worst drought in centuries, with human-caused climate change making it 72 per cent worse, studies have shown.

With weather patterns expected to worsen, experts say the reservoir may never be full again.

The rocks that form the hard edges of the reservoir offer a stark illustration of just how far water levels have fallen. A white band of mineral deposits stains the mountainsides like the ring on a bathtub, showing where the water was at its high point after a flood in 1983.

In May, a skeletal body was found curled in a metal barrel along the receding shoreline. Las Vegas police said the body belonged to a man who had died from an execution-style gunshot wound to the head sometime between the mid-1970s or early 80s.

Officials have not confirmed the theory, but many have speculated that it bears all the markings of the sort of gangland hit that would not have been unheard of in the mob-run Las Vegas the victim was killed during.

The remains of another body found in Callville Bay have been speculated to belong to a 1950s Vegas mobster – albeit one who was killed in an innocent accident rather than as a result of foul play.

Todd Kolod thinks the body may be that of his father Daniel Kolod – known in the Vegas mob as Ruby – who drowned in the lake in 1958 aged 22, and whose remains were never found.

He fell from a speedboat that flipped when it struck by a wake during a fishing trip with a friend 64 years ago.

Todd said his suspicions were heightened thanks to a photo of the body that was found – particularly a snap of a skull with missing teeth, as his father wore denture following a car crash which knocked his front teeth out.

At the time, Todd was three years old. He says that his family told him that his father had ‘went away,’ and that he only learned the grim truth when he was older.

Todd said in an interview with KLAS that when he heard that remains were found in the Callville Bay section of Lake Mead his eyes ‘bulged wide open.’

-----------------------------------------------------
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal

-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)

Click to visit the TBP Store for Great TBP Merchandise