Southern Nevada Water Authority

Amount Appropriated?

$6.0M

FFID tracks stages 1–2 — stages 3–5 vary by agency, assistance type, and earmark structure.

Project Description

The Lower Wash is located on NPS Lake Mead NRA, so this requires partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service. Both agencies have dedicated some funding to the Lower Wash but federal budgetary constraints have underfunded what's needed to address the erosion control and the decline in environmental wetland restoration efforts. The community through SNWA has dedicated funds to the Lower Wash, but it is paramount that federal funding be allocated to address this. \n\nThe SNWA estimates the current rate of channel erosion in the Lower Wash to be two to three vertical feet per year, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates between 150,000 and 460,000 cubic yards of sediment is transported to Lake Mead each year at current low lake levels. The sediment produced\nby erosion is discharging directly into Las Vegas Bay at Lake Mead, only six miles upstream of SNWA\u2019s drinking water intakes. Water quality sampling and analysis completed by SNWA has indicated a considerable increase in concentrations of total suspended solids and phosphorus in Wash flows between Northshore Road bride and Lake Mead. These parameters are indicators of the severity of on-going erosion and support the need for action. Additionally, ongoing erosion is likely to affect the structural integrity of the existing weirs, such as the Northshore Road bridge (used by seven to eight- million visitors annually for travel to Lake Mead NRA) and the Lake Las Vegas dam, placing these structures in jeopardy within the foreseeable future.