KTLA

Lake Mead exposing more sunken relics

A large boat re-emerges from Lake Mead as lake levels continue to drop. (Photo: Travis Pardee)

As Lake Mead continues to lose water more relics from the past are being exposed along the once underwater shoreline, KTLA sister station KLAS reported.

Over the weekend, boaters came across several boats that have probably spent years underwater.


Travis Pardee took video and photographs of several of the boats, including one that somehow has surfaced in a vertical position. The strange sight of the boat pointing skyward was found in the area of Government Wash.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, Lake Mead’s water level is 1,049.66 feet (above sea level). This is 179.34 feet below what’s called the “full pool,” or the highest the water level can get because it is a man-made reservoir. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, Lake Mead is only 30% full at this time.

In other photographs, Pardee took pictures of at least three other boats and personal watercraft.

One of the boats was still underwater but clearly visible from the surface.

The recent drought-exposed wrecks follow a far grislier discovery – earlier this year boaters found a barrel that contained human remains. Authorities say the barrel may have been underwater for as long as four decades before the receding water line led to its discovery.