An unprecedented drought has hit the western United States and has caused many bodies to appear due to the decrease in water levels, in lakes, but that is the least of concern. What are its other disastrous consequences?
Here in Arizona, near the Nevada border, and not far from Las Vegas, and Lake Mead, formed after the construction of the Hoover Dam, on the Colorado River, we see the largest storage lake in all of the United States, Lake Mead.
The lake, which provides water to around 25 million people living in 3 US states and Mexico, is experiencing a sharp drop in water levels and the surrounding areas have begun to dry out and become arid plains.
Falling water levels in the lake revealed a number of murder victims' bodies, which had previously been dumped in a barrel, after being shot, and the killer believed the body would remain hidden at the bottom of the lake for always, but the drought changed the situation. equation.
As the bodies that appear in the lake have shed light on the history of the Las Vegas gang, water experts are warning of a more difficult future, if the water in the lake continues to fall to a level that does not allow the Dam Hoover generates electricity or the water supply of the communities that depend on it.
And authorities have instructed California residents to store water so they don't run short as the drought is expected to worsen with the summer.
Authorities have also warned citizens not to use excessive water to irrigate their home gardens and to reduce the water used for hygiene and bathing.
And in Los Angeles, officials are asking many residents to reduce the amount of water they use by 35% after the state recorded the worst start to the dry season since the logging system began.
And the US space agency "NASA", which monitors water levels, warns that the American West is now entering one of the worst dry seasons in history.
"Temperatures are rising, humidity is falling and so is the rate of ice formation, so lakes tend to dry up, and then in hot regions like the west dry grass is on fire," he told the BBC. NASA hydrologist GT Reagan.
"These consequences keep getting worse, it's like watching a disaster unfold in slow motion," he added.
Farmers are already suffering from the effects of the drought, after the water level of Lake Mead, from which they obtained 75% of their stock for agriculture, fell.
More than a third of the US vegetable crop is planted in California, as is about two-thirds of the fruit crop, but thousands of acres remain uncultivated because their owners don't have access to enough water to grow them.
Farmer Bill Diedrich told the BBC the effects of this will be visible on store shelves next year, with supply chains affected, and he showed us part of his farm that was used to grow tomatoes, but not it did so because of acute shortages. . Water.