Biologist raps petitions to increase waste water discharge

Sunday, Jan. 30, 2000 | 10:31 a.m.

While Larry Paulson is upset about what he sees as a lack of action by regional agencies to substantively change the water system, he almost has apoplexy when talking about one proposed change.

The waste water disposal agencies for Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson have asked to increase their permit levels to allow them to put more treated waste water into the Las Vegas Wash.

According to a permit application filed with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, the Clark County Sanitation District wants to increase its permit level from 90 million gallons per day to 110 million gallons; Las Vegas seeks an increase from 66 million to 91 million; and Henderson seeks an increase from 20 million to 30 million.

The permitted amount for waste water into the wash would rise by nearly one-third, or by about 55 million gallons a day. The permits would be good for five years.

Paulson charges that the change would guarantee more contamination reaching Lake Mead and more erosion in the Las Vegas Wash.

"The water authority tells us it is restoring the Las Vegas Wash and cleaning up our water quality problems, while the sewer districts are discreetly applying for permits to increase treated sewage discharges," he said last week. "The hypocrisy of all that overwhelms me.

"They apparently will not stop until all of Las Vegas Bay is a cesspool," Paulson said. "The thought of even more treated sewage in our drinking water makes me want to vomit."

Representatives from local water-treatment agencies said they have no choice but to seek the increases. The demand comes from the exploding population in the valley, they insist.

"There's continuing growth here and with that growth comes more waste water," said Doug Karafa, support services manager with the Clark County Sanitation District. "We have to deal with that reality."

He said the actual flow of treated waste water into the wash is predicted to rise from about 130 million gallons per day now to about 280 million gallons in 2030.

While the permit would increase the total amount of water in the wash, the level of contamination will not rise, Karafa said. The amount of solids and chemical nutrients discharged by the agencies would remain fixed at today's levels, so that contamination would be diluted further than the discharge is now.

The level of phosphorus and ammonia in the wash would not rise, agreed Kurt Segler, Henderson utilities manager.

Reclaiming more "gray water" for irrigation won't stop the need for the extra permit capacity, Segler said.

"Would reclaiming additional water ameliorate the need for a discharge increase? The answer is no," he said. The valley just can't absorb enough waste water, especially in the winter months, he added.

Officials acknowledge that the discharge of an extra 55 million gallons a day won't help the erosion problem in the wash. But they argue the impact will be minimal.

"Any kind of increase in flow will result in some erosion," said Kim Zikmund, project manager for the Las Vegas Wash Project Coordination Team, a 28-agency effort to restore the wetlands in the wash. But Zikmund stressed that nearly all the substantial erosion damage to the wash has occurred after large rainfalls.

"I would be taken aback (if someone claimed) we were exacerbating an ongoing issue," Segler said.

It may be possible in the future to avoid some of the erosion and contamination problems that Paulson foresees from the increased waste water discharge into the wash, officials said.

All three of the major waste water disposal agencies are actively participating in a study of alternate discharge methods, which could include piping the discharge deep under the surface of Lake Mead to reduce contamination reaching the drinking water intake pipes a few miles downstream.

"There is a recognition of the need to identify and investigate viable alternatives to the wash for the disposal of treated effluent," said David James, a UNLV environmental engineer and researcher. James worked on the coordination team until July 1999.

He believes those agencies are serious about finding discharge alternatives.

Karafa said the study should be complete in about 18 months -- months after regional agencies learn whether they've gotten the permit increases for waste water discharge.

Leo Drozdoff, bureau chief for the state's Bureau of Water Pollution Control, said the goal for the state and local agencies is to have the increased permit levels in place before the start of next winter, when demand for reclaimed water for irrigation shrinks.

Before the permit requests win approval, they have to be reviewed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state must provide a 30-day public comment period, which could include a public hearing, Drozdoff said.