Wetlands park funding inadequate; need critical

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

A desert wetlands park still on the drawing boards will need more funding -- about $1 million a year -- to keep its 2,400 acres afloat, water officials said during a local workshop.

Sen. Richard Bryan and Rep. Shelley Berkley, both D-Nev., urged a small army of federal, state and local government representatives on Monday to dust off a wetlands park plans that have been in the works for almost 20 years and start building.

For two decades floods and Las Vegas Valley runoff have devastated 2,000 acres of cattail marshes east of Las Vegas. Less than 200 acres of wetlands remain after last July's flooding.

A six-mile stretch of the Las Vegas Wash designated for the wetlands park is the key. Clark County officials plan to anchor the park with the wetlands and build a research center to study Lake Mead water problems worsened by the explosive urban growth. Lake Mead is the source of the valley's drinking water. The park's marshes would help improve water quality by naturally filtering water before it gets to the lake, as well as offer a home to 174 species of wildlife.

Clark County officials are seeking funds to buy about 400 acres of private land within the park's proposed boundaries while trying to stop further erosion in the Las Vegas Wash.

Environmental studies, plans and some permits to begin building an erosion barrier at Pabco Road have taken most of the $13 million in state park bond money approved by voters 10 years ago. About $600,000 will remain at the end of the year, County Parks and Recreation Director Glenn Trowbridge said.

With that money the county plans to build a visitors center and start trails into the wash by the end of next year, Trowbridge said. An old federal ranger's station east of the Boulder Highway on Russell Road currently serves a visitors center, but it is too small for large groups.

Where to find the money for the future park remained unanswered at the end of Monday's workshop. Officials estimate costs as high as $150 million to build and maintain a wetlands park.

No one knows today how to fund the park's upkeep and how to protect the wash from the forces that destroyed it before -- flows of treated sewage of up to 150 million gallons a day and untreated water from surface runoff and floodwaters, officials said.

An exasperated Bryan at one point wondered who was in charge?

Historically, about 24 federal, state and local agencies protected various pieces turf in the wash.

"Clark County has to speak with one voice," the senator urged.

But that single voice of responsibility is not ready to speak.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to become the lead agency if the county and all the cities agree, General Manager Pat Mulroy said.

City councils, the County Commission, the County Sanitation District and the water boards will have to approve an interlocal agreement, expected to be drafted by the end of the year, so the water authority can take the lead, she said. Under the proposed agreement, there is no need for a new agency or another layer of bureaucracy, she added.

How federal agencies such as the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers fit into the mix has not been decided.

Bryan urged local governments to act together to save the wash by applying for Southern Nevada public lands monies. About $10 million is in the fund, which was approved by Congress this last session.

The fund will help Nevada save environmentally sensitive land as the Bureau of Land Management sells off federal acres in the county already surrounded by suburbs.

Private interests are also willing to help. Friends of the Desert Wetlands Park Chairman Jack Harvey said the volunteer group can help bring government officials and landowners together to protect the wetlands.

"The Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act funds could help buy these acres, the most sensitive, environmentally threatened lands in Clark County," Harvey said.

Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit group, is committed to helping the county rebuild wetlands, Harvey noted. Once a club for duck hunters, millions of members have turned to saving wetlands worldwide.

The county Parks and Recreation Department plans to break ground before the end of the year to build the Pabco Road erosion control.

Once environmental permits are in place, crews can build it within nine months, according to Jeff Harris, Parks and Recreation wetlands park project manager.

Bryan said he doesn't want to wait that long. He called for another meeting in four months, and he said he will be looking for answers.