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LVWCC celebrates 5 year anniversary
The Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee (LVWCC) has reached a significant milestone -- five
years have passed since this group was created to develop and implement a management plan for
the Wash. During this time, the committee has made tremendous strides, in terms of both developing
a long-term management plan and implementing on-the-ground stabilization and enhancement projects.
Additionally, this partnership serves as a model of interagency planning and cooperation for other
communities facing similar challenges.
In recognition of this occasion, the October 21 LVWCC meeting will be held at the
recently completed Bostick Weir. In addition to conducting the committee's regular business,
activities will include a speaking program, progress report video, commemorative planting by students of Mabel Hoggard
Elementary School, and recognition of our non-member partners.
In 1998, people from more than two dozen organizations joined forces to address one of the most important
environmental and water quality challenges facing Southern Nevada-the Las Vegas Wash.
The final link in our community's watershed, this tributary carries reclaimed water, urban runoff, stormwater and flows
from the shallow groundwater system. Erosion in the wash had reduced and threatened the wetlands' infrastructure, a consequence
that both diminished the wash's value as a wildlife habitat and threatened to impact water quality in Lake Mead, a
critical reservoir for both Southern Nevada and much of the Southwest.
In 2000, one year after the LVWCC was created, the committee authored the Comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan, a blueprint that
included forty-four specific actions designed to help stabilize, enhance and manage the Las Vegas Wash. These actions
included the construction of erosion control structures, revegetation efforts, water quality monitoring and
biological research.
Committee's accomplishments during its first
five years |
- Seven erosion control structures have been built across the Las Vegas Wash.
- Approximately two miles of the wash's bankline has been reinforced to help stabilize the channel.
- Adjacent to the erosion control structures, staff and volunteer crews have planted more than
42 acres of land with native shrubs and trees.
- The project team is also participating in a multi-agency weed eradication
program targeting tamarisk, tall whitetop and giant reed.
- Biologists have been collecting data on the wash's wildlife, including
birds, fish, insects, reptiles and mammals -- comprehensive data not collected for more than
three decades. Biologists have identified more than 200 bird species, along with a wide
variety of other animals that rely upon the wash for habitat.
- The wash's water quality, and its potential to influence Lake Mead, is of
critical concern for the coordination committee and its members -- a comprehensive water quality
monitoring program has been implemented. This program, which utilizes "real-time" sampling
equipment, has greatly improved scientists' understanding of water quality in both the wash
and its tributaries. This data allows scientists to identify zones of water quality concern,
helps quantify and isolate pollutant sources, and informs decisions about source water protection
initiatives.
- By educating and involving the community in wash-related activities such as
plantings, trash removal, water quality data collection and wildlife monitoring, the coordination
committee has both invested residents in this resource and forged partnerships with the environmental
and educational communities.
- To cultivate understanding among the next generation of leaders, the Project
Team has "adopted" Mabel Hoggard Elementary School. Students have participated extensively in field
work, including water quality sampling, to gain first-hand knowledge about the complexity of issues
in the wash and the importance of environmental stewardship.
- These efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2000, the coordination committee's
efforts garnered an Earth Day Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2002, the committee
received the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's Wendell McCurry award for Excellence in
Water Quality. Most recently, the wash stabilization program was honored as the Floodplain Management
Association's 2003 Major Project of the Year.
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The Las Vegas Wash is among Southern Nevada's most unique natural resources. It plays a critical role in preserving
our community's water quality, fosters biological diversity and provides residents and visitors alike rare insight into
the world of desert wetlands. But were it not for the efforts of the LVWCC, this tributary
might be little more than a desolate conduit for urban pollution. Five years is a short time, but the accomplishments already
achieved are helping to protect water quality, enhance habitat and create an environmental resource for the entire community.
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