All’s well on water issues

Friday, Dec. 17, 1999 | 11:35 a.m.

Officials are confident that water will keep flowing in the Las Vegas Valley if the Y2K computer bug bites.

And even if something catastrophic happens at Hoover Dam, backup systems are in place to ensure that Southern Nevada's water faucets will still function.

Officials have worked for three years to make the local water supply as safe and secure as possible, said David Donnelly, deputy general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The district is ready for all contingencies on New Year's Eve, he says.

Donnelly said the water district is taking no chances in the event that a power failure shuts down water pumps when the calendar rolls over to 2000.

All 30 valley reservoirs will be filled to the brim with 640 million gallons of water before the three-day New Year's weekend, Donnelly said.

Behind that giant pool of security are backup generators for the massive pumps that lift water over a mile from Lake Mead uphill into the valley, he said.

If a lengthy power failure occurs, automatic sprinkler systems and water heaters wouldn't work, which would help reduce demands because people would be less likely to water lawns or take extended cold showers, Donnelly said.

But if something more ominous happens -- like a partial structural failure of Hoover Dam -- the water district is even prepared for that, said James Ellisor, director of the district's information systems.

"We are taking it very seriously," Ellisor said of ensuring a safe and secure water supply through the New Year.

Hoover Dam, finished in 1935, created Lake Mead where 85 percent of the Las Vegas Valley's drinking water is drawn. "The dam is a major part of our water system," Ellisor said.

"We have discussed what might happen if the dam had a partial failure," from a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a man-made calamity, he said. There is no evidence that a catastrophic quake would occur under the dam. Most recorded temblors at the site have been magnitude 3 on the Richter scale.

While the backup reservoirs could supply the valley for five days, the water district is prepared to use its underground well system in case of an extended catastrophe, Ellisor said. The wells are normally used only during hot summer months, but they could support the valley at subsistence levels for more than a week.

"We would have time, through the well system, to design something if the dam was inoperable," he said.

The water district has also worked with Nevada Power Co. for more than a year to coordinate solutions to disaster scenarios, Ellisor said.

Going a step beyond a check of computer clocks and filling the reservoirs , Ellisor said he even pulled the plug on the water district's entire computer system to simulate a total crash. Under that scenario, the district would hand pump, treat and deliver the valley's water supply. It might not be as effective, but it can be done, Ellisor said.

As an extra precaution, the water district will beef up security around reservoirs and treatment plants, Ellisor said.

"If there are any problems, by the time people wake up on New Year's Day they will all be solved," Ellisor said.

A national group is just as confident about the valley's preparedness for a water emergency.

Jon Deboer, executive director of the American Water Works Association, said his organization has done a national survey of water systems and it found that the Las Vegas Valley Water District and the city of Henderson are prepared for worst-case scenarios.

"The Las Vegas Valley Water District is one of the most prepared utilities around," Deboer said.