Wash Committee Receives State Environmental Award

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection recognized the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee (Coordination Committee) with the 2002 Wendell McCurry Excellence in Water Quality Award.

The Coordination Committee is the first organization from Southern Nevada to receive this recognition and only the fourth recipient of the McCurry award statewide. The award is given in the name of Wendell McCurry, an environmentalist referred to as "the father of Nevada's clean water efforts."

Since forming in 1999 by the SNWA at the recommendation of the Water Quality Citizens Advisory Committee, the Coordination Committee has protected and enhanced the Las Vegas Wash by:

• Constructing dam-like erosion control structures
• Reinforcing the wash's banks to stabilize the channel
• Removing invasive weeds
• Planting more than 12,000 trees and shrubs along the banks of the 12-mile channel

"During the past three years we've made a lot of progress stabilizing the Las Vegas Wash and trying to enhance its ability to polish urban flows," said Keiba Crear, Las Vegas Wash Project Team senior biologist. "We're honored to receive this kind of recognition."