Near Las Vegas, more human remains have been found in a receding reservoir

The nation's largest reservoir, Lake Mead, has revealed yet more secrets after human remains were found at Swim Beach on Saturday. During the morning hours, the National Park Service reported the discovery at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

As part of the recovery process, park rangers cordoned off the area while Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department divers helped. There has been a report of possible decades-old remains at a lake 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas for the fourth time since May.

The discoveries include the medical Examiners in Clark County are responsible for determining the identity of deceased persons and determining the cause of death, if possible. Authorities discovered remains near Bolder Islands near the reservoir on July 6 that turned out to be that of a woman who had gone missing after falling off a jet ski on June 30.

Experts believe the four possible older remains were discovered because the lake's water level has receded more than 170 feet since 1983, decreasing its 'bathtub ring,' made of dry minerals. It is currently at about one-quarter of its capacity.

According to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, an intake pipe exposed to the lake's descending surface could no longer draw liquid. The authority had prepared for this event for a long time and was ready to take over a deeper intake.

In most areas of the West and Southwest, drought has plagued the Colorado River for at least half a millennium. There have also been other symptoms, such as Colorado's inability to reach the Gulf of California until last year, when a binational agreement restored water to Mexico's delta.

The growing Southwest's dependence on the Colorado River — which feeds taps and helps grow food for an estimated 33 million people — has also played a role in the lake's shrinking presence. Colorado River water cuts were mandated by the federal government last year for seven states that use the river.

As of June, Lake Mead had its lowest elevation since the lake was filled in the 1930s, at 1,044.03 feet. As of July, that number had been surpassed by a new low: 1040.92 feet. In the decades following World War II, mobsters who killed for money and power in Las Vegas may have buried some long-held secrets in this lake.

He told NBC News affiliate KNSV in Las Vegas that the mob would have been averse to the publicity and law enforcement attention that might have resulted from dumping bodies so close to town. It will create negative publicity in a tourist town when murder victims are found in the city, he told the station in July.

It is a different story, according to Schumacher, when a body is found in a barrel. It is a sure sign of a mob hit if a barrel is found,' he explained. 'They will stuff bodies in barrels and sometimes dump them in the water.

Hoover Dam completed in 1935 created Lake Mead and officially opened the following year. Through Black Canyon, it held back water from the Colorado River and pushed water into four basins to help it hold water for two years.