Nevada in line for water funds

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

Nevada should get $5.3 million of $2.1 billion the Senate has approved for water projects.

While the bulk of the money will go toward environmental improvements and a water system at Lake Tahoe, the Truckee River and Walker Lake in Northern Nevada, almost $1 million will be spent in Las Vegas.

About $800,000 will be used to continue a comprehensive study of the Las Vegas Valley's water, including surface runoff and flood control, by the Army Corps of Engineers, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

Language in the bill also offers better coordination between the federal corps and Clark County that will save local residents an estimated $20 million on a study of Tropicana and Flamingo washes, major flood channels that slice the valley from west to east, Reid said.

The Senate passed the 1999 national water resources budget by unanimous consent Monday night. No vote was taken and there was no debate.

Reid said he was especially concerned about higher risks from flooding of homes built throughout the valley and the threat from increased surface runoff that is destroying the Las Vegas Valley's 100 acres of desert wetlands.

"Nevada's rapid growth is sometimes a mixed blessing," Reid said.

The Corps of Engineers has been studying flooding and water runoff in the valley since the 1950s. If Congress approves the appropriation, the corps will continue its study of water quality and how to preserve the Las Vegas Wash and wetlands.

The House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee is set to hear the bill today.

If both houses of Congress pass conflicting versions of the same measure, a compromise will be hammered out in a joint conference committee later this year.