A World War II-era landing craft used to transport troops or tanks was revealed on the shore near Lake Mead Marina as the waterline continues down the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Thursday. in Boulder City. (LE Baskow, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
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LAS VEGAS – A sunken ship dating back to World War II is the latest object to emerge from a reservoir that straddles between Nevada and Arizona.
The long-standing Higgins landing craft, which is 185 feet below the surface, is now almost halfway to Lake Mead.
The boat is less than a mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor.
It was used decades ago to study the Colorado River, sold at the marina and then sank, according to diving tour company Las Vegas Scuba.
Higgins Industries in New Orleans built several thousand landing craft between 1942 and 1945, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. About 1,500 “Higgins boats” were deployed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day.
The ship is just the latest in a series of objects discovered by declining water levels at Lake Mead, the largest artificial reservoir in the United States, retained by the Hoover Dam. In May, two sets of human remains were found in the one-week period.
Experts say climate change and drought have caused the lake to fall to its lowest level since it was full about 20 years ago.
As water levels fall in both Lake Mead and Lake Powell upstream of the Arizona-Utah line, the western states of the United States are increasingly facing deeper cuts in their supply since of the Colorado River. Lower levels also affect the hydroelectric power produced at Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam, which slow down Lake Powell.
U.S. Complaints Office Commissioner Camille Touton said last month that the agency would take steps to protect the system if the seven states in the Colorado River Basin do not quickly find a way to reduce use. of up to 4 million acre-feet. of water, more than the share of Arizona and Nevada combined.
One acre-foot is about 325,850 gallons. An average home uses between half and an acre of water a year.
The two states, California and Mexico have already enacted voluntary and mandatory cuts. Water from some reservoirs in the upper basin (Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) has been released to shore up Lake Powell.
Farmers use most of the river’s supply.
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