Project to raise water delivery, quality

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

Anew $9.74 million operations and maintenance center under construction at the Las Vegas Valley Water District is expected to improve efficiency and the quality of service for customers, district officials said this week.

The new center, which will be completed by March, will rise on a corner of 9 1/2 acres of the water district's Valley View Boulevard property, part of an overhaul to serve the Las Vegas Valley's booming population.

Growth not only has prompted the need for the facility, but it also is paying for the cost of construction, Support Services Director Jack Staley said.

No increases in customer bills are expected because of the new facility.

The water district along with the regional Southern Nevada Water Authority is in the middle of a $2-billion expansion to improve the delivery and the quality of drinking water to the valley's residents. The project includes two new treatment plants, a second pipeline to bring water from Lake Mead and a new network of pipelines to deliver the water all over the valley.

Those projects are being paid for by a voter-approved hike in sales tax.

The new operations center on Valley View Boulevard will offer a hub for electricians, technicians, well and pipe fitters and computer staff to provide more efficient, economical service to the valley's water users.

The building will house the latest technology on its property along with the district's computer experts, mechanics, water quality experts and engineers under one roof.

In 1983 the water district served 401,905 customers with 143,044 acre feet of Colorado River water for the year. An acre-foot of water serves a family of four for about a year.

By 1998 -- the last year water use data are available -- the water district's customers had grown to 851,455 using 299,875 acre feet of the river's water.

By 2005 the water district predicts 1.13 million customers will draw 365,064 acre feet of water a year.

The staff has grown to 1,000 with 96 of them in operations and maintenance. Trouble is they are scattered in buildings, garages and trailers all over the complex, Staley said.

When Staley came to work at the district 15 years ago, 200 employees filled all the area's needs, housed in a single-story building on West Charleston.

Now the water district extends from West Charleston Boulevard on the south to Valley View on the west to Alta Drive on the north, Staley said.

When a water line breaks or a well fails, repair teams have to respond from various corners of the widespread district.

"It's another growing pain," he said.

When Sletten Construction completes the 68,539-square-foot center, designed by JMA Architecture Studios, the mechanical staff will have a place to learn hands-on how to change a pump or rebuild a well head.

The computer system will be housed in the new building. Technicians will enter the secure area with an identification card to prevent unauthorized people from wandering into the heart of the system that delivers water, Staley said.

Computer technicians currently have to brown-bag their lunches, but that will change with the new building, which will include a small lunchroom next to the electronic brain, Staley said. There also will be a walled patio to take a breath of fresh air or a drag on a cigarette, since the district's buildings are non-smoking areas.

The water quality staff led by Linda Blish will have a modern laboratory to ensure the drinking water supply is safe.

And rural representatives who supply water to outlying Searchlight, Blue Diamond and Kyle Canyon communities, including Mount Charleston, will have offices there.

When wells are dismantled and rebuilt, instead of hauling their mud-encrusted tops out into the desert for cleaning, technicians will have access to a modern rinsing rack to support the pieces while they are washed down.

The water district also plans to make its new vehicles more energy efficient by fueling them with compressed natural gas, Staley said. Starting in 2000, 10 percent of all the district's new vehicle will run on the alternative fuel, he said.

To supply the gas, the water district ripped up Valley View Boulevard this summer while a gas delivery line is installed.