New water line may have to be built

Kris Hill

Monday, Nov. 27, 2000 | 11:38 a.m.

With the possibility of having as many as four golf courses using water in Boulder City in the coming year, the City Council will consider building a raw water line to help pump water into the city.

At a workshop Thursday the council will discuss adding a raw water line that would bring untreated water from the Alfred Merritt Smith treatment plant in Henderson and run it back to the city, Boulder City spokesman Roy Theiss said.

A new line would become necessary if the city adds a second municipal golf course and two private groups complete courses in Boulder City as well. The courses would use more water than the existing line could handle.

It would also back up the existing pipeline that sends treated water from the Henderson plant to Boulder City, in case of damage to the line from an earthquake or other disasters.

The city's existing line, 24 inches in diameter, transports 19.4 million gallons per day. The new line will be 30 inches in diameter.

A new line will run right by a River Mountains treatment facility that will be constructed in the near future. The existing line runs through the River Mountains.

Routing of the new line and the cost -- which could be around $18 million, including a new reservoir and a pump station -- will be the main issue of the workshop, but the cost may cause more discussion than the routing.

"I don't think there's any real hurdles for the routes," he said. "It's a matter of what's easiest."

The existing pipeline was completed in 1982, Jesse Davis, a Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesman, said.

The council won't make any decisions regarding the raw water line at the workshop, but is tentatively scheduled to take action in January.