The Wash matters to all of us. It is the final link in the Las Vegas Valley’s watershed, carrying the valley’s excess water – an average of more than 150 million gallons a day – to Lake Mead. That’s a lot of water! Keeping this water clean is important to all of us. The Wash serves four very important functions that benefit everyone who calls Southern Nevada home:

• Channels all excess water from the Las Vegas Valley
• Vegetation “polishes” water
• Provides wildlife habitat
• And, last, but certainly not least – it serves as a recreational area for outdoors enthusiasts. That’s you! You can see the Wash at some great vantage points throughout the Clark County Wetlands Park, located at the end of East Tropicana Avenue, near Sam Boyd Stadium.

In 1991, Nevada residents approved a wildlife and parks bond earmarking $13.3 million for erosion control and construction of a Wetlands Park project in the Wash. Two years later, Clark County began work on a master planning process for the Wetlands Park.

The Nature Preserve, the first phase of the Wetlands Park, was opened to the public in conjunction with the EcoJam celebration of Earth Day 2001, and is open daily for hiking, walking, bird watching, and enjoyment of the beautiful wetlands. You’ll be able to walk various paths throughout this phase of the Wetlands Park and enjoy sights and sounds one wouldn’t expect to find in Las Vegas. Oh, you’ll be able to see the casinos in the distance, but you’ll soon forget that this is Las Vegas when you see a great blue heron or a snowy white egret swooping in for a landing, and hear the water babble as it flows over the rocks. Is this really the desert? You’ll want to return to the Wetlands Park again and again!

Just down the street, you can visit the City of Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, which utilizes the reclaimed water from the city in an innovative way – it created another haven for the birds of area, and those migrating through, to rest and nourish themselves. So, not only are the ponds useful in water reclamation efforts, they are also improving the aesthetic value of the land and providing important wetland habitat.