Tuesday, April 17, 2001 | 10:19 a.m.
President Bush has asked Congress for $22 million next year to protect the Las Vegas Valley from severe flooding, but his proposed budget does not include $20 million already owed to local governments for channels and basins that have been built.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., toured the flood control system Monday to bring attention to the lack of funding, saying, "I'd rather pay up front to protect the valley, rather than paying for damages after a flood."
Money from bonds and local governments has helped build in the past two years $20 million in projects, such as the 54-acre Tropicana Detention Basin, which was finished in June 1998 at a cost of $7.7 million.
Clark County Regional Flood Control Director Gale Fraser said the county hopes to get that repaid by the federal government in $5 million increments over the next four years. However, its request for $5 million this year is not included in the Bush budget, Fraser said.
"If we don't get it this year, we will go back and ask again next year," he said during the tour of ditches and drains under construction southwest of Las Vegas.
In most cases, the county and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work hand-in-hand on flood control, hoping to prevent damage such as what occurred in July 1999, when flash flooding caused more than $22 million in public property damage and resulted in two deaths.
Although there are 57 detention basins and more than 260 miles of channels and storm drains in the valley, another 20 years of construction is needed to effectively flood-proof the area, experts say.
Before 1999 Clark County received between $28 million and $48 million annually for flood-control projects.
In the wake of the 1999 flood, Army Corps of Engineers funding last year for the county reached $168 million, Fraser said.
"More funds through June 2003 are crucial" for building a network of flood controls that could keep up with residential and business growth, he said.
Berkley said she and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plan to secure more flood protection funding. A total of $650 million is needed in Southern Nevada, flood control district officials say. About $121 million of that will come from the federal budget.
"Senator Reid knows what is needed; I know what is needed," Berkley said. "We grew up here."
The Flamingo and Tropicana washes are prime examples, said Col. John Carroll of the Corps' Los Angeles office.
Both washes drain into the Lower Red Rock complex, which was completed in September at a cost of $10 million. Piles of dirt and holes in the ground are designed to slowly move the water beneath the Strip resorts so, rather than inundating the eastern side of the valley, it dribbles into the Las Vegas Wash.
The Red Rock concrete channel is 23 feet high and 30 feet wide and can carry floodwaters expected only every 100 years at 35 mph. When the system is finished, it should capture it in the Tropicana Detention Basin, and allow the water to drain into the wash over five days.
As more than 1.4 million people move into the valley, flood-proofing becomes a more difficult proposition, Rob Caskie, the Corps' on-site engineer, said.
"The changes are so rapid you can almost see them day-to-day," said Brian Moore of the Corps' Los Angeles office.
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