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Water Quality
Research projects under way along the Wash include both water quality resources as well as a variety of biological studies. We have several programs where we are collecting and sampling the quality of the water in the mainstream wash, and in its tributaries and seeps, while our real-time water quality monitoring program allows us to collect data at 20-minute intervals, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We have sophisticated equipment logging data for us, such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity, which you can view online.
We conduct stream gauging to measure flows of the tributaries of the Wash, and determine how much water is flowing from them into the mainstream Wash. This is important to establish a baseline of the water quality of each flow into the Wash, and allows us to determine contributions of contamination from urban runoff and specific uses of the land around the valley and study the effects on water quality. It's important to understand that contamination knows no boundaries. Whether it's dumped on the ground out in the northwest section of the Las Vegas Valley, or on the streets of Henderson, it will eventually make its way to the Wash through its various tributaries and groundwater.
We collect samples of water at numerous locations along the Wash and within the Boulder Basin of Lake Mead for a contaminant assessment program that is under way. In this program, we are assessing emerging contaminants such as mercury, perchlorate, and selenium from surface and ground water, and are evaluating the efficiency of water treatment. We also are continuously monitoring the aquatic environment of the Boulder Basin and enhancing our understanding of how the Wash affects it.
When the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee (LVWCC) was created more than 10 years ago, the majority of the biological resources in the Wash had not been studied for more than 25 years. One of the 44 action items recommended in the LVWCC's guiding document, the Las Vegas Wash Comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan, is the development of a long-term fish and wildlife management plan. To ensure that the LVWCC would have the best available information with which to develop this plan, the Las Vegas Wash Project Coordination Team has conducted extensive biological monitoring, including reptile, small mammal, bat, amphibian, fish and various bird surveys.
The biological surveys and studies we are conducting help us understand the important relationship between the water and the creatures living in and around it. Water quality is important to both humans and wildlife, and the presence or absence of wildlife can help us to better understand what is happening within the Wash. Research on fish, reptiles and amphibians has concluded for the time being while other projects, such as the macroinvertebrate, bat and bird studies have been ongoing for years. Plants also are an important component of the ecosystem, providing food and shelter for the Wash's diverse wildlife. An inventory of more than 250 species of plants has been logged and is ongoing, and our herbarium collection can be searched online.
Data from these studies were used to create the Las Vegas Wash Wildlife Management Plan. The plan includes 31 recommended actions designed to conserve the native species that have been found along the Wash, protect and enhance their habitats and increase environmental awareness of these resources within the community. As a result of the plan's recommended actions, we have initiated new studies, including surveys for large and small mammals as well as aquatic birds.
You'll be able to find out more about our projects throughout this section. If you have any questions contact the project team office at (702) 822-3300.