A walk along the Wash

While enjoying unseasonably cool breezes in mid-June, the Las Vegas Wash Project Coordination Team staff conducted a tour for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). The BOR is an active member agency of the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee (LVWCC) and has provided a great deal of support to the project.

Armed with lots of water and loads of sun block, the group started out at 8:00 a.m. and headed to the Wash. While traveling, they learned about the LVWCC and its history, its structure, the goals developed from the Las Vegas Wash Comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan and the many activities underway to meet those goals. Here are the items that were highlighted during the tour:

The tour began at Demonstration Weir, where the BOR was educated on the history of the weir, erosion control efforts as well as the flow inputs. The community partnerships between the LVWCC, local nurseries, and Nevada Division of Forestry were also discussed. Some of the activities underway to address the habitat alteration by hydrologic change include the revegetion activities that are conducted to meet the Army Corps of Engineers' mitigation requirements. Currently, 43 acres of habitat have been revegetated with an 84% survival rate. There is an extensive weed management effort underway through the Las Vegas Weed Partnership, in addition to the studies that will gather baseline information on the biological community. The studies include a botanical inventory as well as bird, reptile, small mammal and fish study.

At the Narrows Bank Stabilization site, the tourees saw first hand the tremendous bank stabilization improvements that were made by BOR Construction Crew. Travel continued to the Bostick Weir, named after Vern Bostick, a prominent Wash advocate. There, the various types of structures used at the Wash were discussed.

Travel then continued to Pabco, where the bioaccumulation studies on fish, bird eggs, soils and water were described. A variety of water quality studies are in progress, including real time data collection, percholorate monitoring and, the tributary and mainstream water quality monitoring. Also discussed were the planting sites and revegetation efforts near the Pabco structure, which consist of native plants, many of them grown in local nurseries. Some of the species that make the Wash their home and benefit from efforts of the LVWCC include the western-banded gecko, great blue heron, hoary bat and cactus mouse. For more information on biological studies, visit the Research section. Even with all these efforts, there continues to be evidence of vandalism and off road vehicle destruction at the Wash, which is why community outreach and education is so important.

The last stop of the tour was the City Henderson Bird Preserve Demonstration Wetlands. This constructed wetlands is designed for understanding what wetlands can do for water quality. After a little bird watching and critter identification, the crew loaded up to head home.

For a virtual tour of the Las Vegas Wash, visit Wetlands Tour 2001.