Preserving nature: Wetlands Park revival begins with dedication

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 10:58 a.m.

Nature preserve

In this desert oasis commonly known as the Las Vegas Wash new green shoots have emerged, as have a pair of migrating American avocets, wading birds with light brown heads that resemble ducks when they swim.

The Las Vegas Wash stretches like a green ribbon across the eastern edge of the valley. But the ribbon has been damaged, as more than 20 years of flooding and mounting runoff have devastated wildlife habitat and water quality.

Though frayed, the ribbon is far from torn.

Three years ago, federal, state and local agencies came together to save the unique area. They are beginning to see evidence of the wetlands' revival.

Bruce Sillitoe is the principal planner for Clark County's Wetlands Park. After officials dedicate the nature preserve this weekend, he said, people will have the opportunity to observe birds and animals in their natural habitats, far from the ubiquitous glare of the Las Vegas Strip.

The 130-acre nature preserve is the heart of a $100 million wetlands park that will encompass 2,900 acres and is expected to be completed in fewer than 10 years, planners say. The wetlands park will be developed in three phases.

A portion of the Duck Creek trail and the nature preserve is slated to open Saturday, said Jeff Harris, the county's park manager. A double-wide trailer about a mile east of Boulder Highway on Tropicana Avenue will serve as a temporary visitors' center and should be open by the end of the month, Harris said.

More important than its role as a wildlife experience, the restored wetlands will help clean polluted surface runoff, treated wastewater and shallow ground water, which will eventually become part of Lake Mead, Southern Nevada's major source of drinking water.

UNLV researchers are studying water quality after volunteers planted more than 9,000 trees and marsh grasses to help prevent erosion. More than 20 years ago the wash was composed of more than 2,000 acres of wetlands. Today, fewer than 200 acres remain.

Preliminary observations by the university scientists show that bacteria are dying in the ponds created by man-made erosion control structures, Sillitoe said.

"No one knows why the coliforms (bacteria) are dying, but they are," he said.

Slowing the water to allow plants to grow and stabilize the banks is the first step toward restoring the wetlands, said Gerry Hester of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

In the past year four structures have been built to control erosion. During the past two months the Bureau of Reclamation and the county have protected 6,600 feet of riverbank with pieces of rock, or riprap, Hester said.

More than two dozen federal, state and local agencies participated in creating the park and restoring wetlands, said Patricia Cook, spokeswoman for the county's Public Works Department, which managed the preserve project.

Of the $10 million spent on the nature preserve, Public Works contributed $3.4 million for an erosion control structure on Pabco Road and $3.3 million for the preserve itself, Cook said.

The remainder of the funding is from Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The county is also seeking grants and other services from federal and private contributors, such as Ducks Unlimited and Friends of the Desert Wetlands Park, Cook said.

And Ducks Unlimited is developing 120 acres near the nature preserve for a wetlands habitat. A trail system in the wash will eventually link recreation areas on nearby federal lands to the county's park, Harris said.

A 4-mile scenic drive is also in the works.