Now Reading: Drought exposes sunken Nevada town St. Thomas from Lake Mead
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Drought exposes sunken Nevada town St. Thomas from Lake Mead
A historic drought has shrunk Lake Mead to a record low of 1,040.5 feet, just 27% of its capacity, revealing the ruins of St. Thomas, a Mormon settlement founded in 1865. The…
The Story in Brief
A historic drought has shrunk Lake Mead to a record low of 1,040.5 feet, just 27% of its capacity, revealing the ruins of St. Thomas, a Mormon settlement founded in 1865. The town was submerged in 1935 after the construction of the Hoover Dam created the reservoir. According to the National Park Service, the last resident, Hugh Lord, paddled away from his home in June 1938 as water reached the town. The re-emergence has allowed visitors to walk the streets once again, with earlier reunions held in 1945, 1963, and 2012. The low water level has also compromised hydroelectric power generation at the dam.
The Indian Opinion
The recurring narrative frames the re-emergence of St. Thomas as a dramatic warning, but it also quietly underscores human shortsightedness. Building a town and then a massive dam in a desert relied on assumptions of endless water, an illusion now shattered by chronic drought. While visitors marvel at the exposed foundations, the real story is the 40 million people dependent on a shrinking Colorado River. The test is not whether we can marvel at ruins, but whether we can stop creating new ones. Can consumption be curbed before more towns are sacrificed?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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