Armand Jackson
A sunken boat that dates back to World War II named The Higgins has recently been discovered from a shrinking reservoir between Arizona and Nevada. According to Las Vegas Scuba, the landing craft was used by the United States military back in WWII to storm beaches, carrying troops and supplies from larger ships to land, and survey the Colorado river. The Higgins was developed in the late 1930’s by Andrew Jackson Higgins of Higgins Industries in New Orleans who adapted his Eureka Boat to meet the United States military’s specifications for a landing craft. It was later sold to the marina and then sunk for reasons unclear where it has for decades been over 50 meters below the surface. But now, due to declining water levels in Lake Mead the craft is halfway out of the water.
However, the Higgins is not the only object surfacing in recent months from Lake Mead since human remains have also been discovered in the span of a week back in May. The lake was created by the construction of the Hoover Dam, and remains the largest human-made reservoir in the United States. Lake Mead is also a major water source for millions of people in the Western and Southwestern regions of the country including residents and tribes in Arizona, Nevada, California, and parts of Mexico, and some of the country’s most productive agricultural sites. Unfortunately, a megadrought brought by climate change has led to the decline of water levels in Lake Mead.
As water levels drop in lakes such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell, states in the Western and Southwestern regions of the country are experiencing a sharp decline in their water supply from the Colorado River. If the continuing trend of less precipitation, warmer and shorter winters, and reduced surface water persists, there can be other issues that these regions face, as the lower levels also impact hydropower produced at Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam.
