Flood control change will save $2 million

Friday, July 13, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

The Clark County Regional Flood Control District voted unanimously Thursday to adjust the way it diverts floodwaters, a move that would save about $2 million.

The agency also boosted funding for Moapa Valley flood protection.

In an effort to protect Hualapai Way between Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue, the county had planned to funnel floodwaters from the Red Rock Canyon area into an open channel along Naples Drive. It then planned to divert runoff to the main channel under Hualapai Way.

Instead, engineers decided to split the desert runoff, grabbing floodwaters at Hualapai and the beltway and simultaneously taking the rest of the water south to Naples. From there it will flow into the Red Rock Channel. The move resulted in a savings of nearly $2 million -- the original project was estimated at $9.6 million, the approved version $7.9 million.

The board also adopted a master plan for the Muddy River, which flows through the communities of Moapa Valley, Glendale, Overton and Logandale, said Kevin Eubanks, assistant general manager of the flood control district.

Each community's master plan is updated every five years, but the Muddy River plan created some contention from the more than 9,900 residents who don't want to bring the potential for flooding to their communities, Eubanks said.

The communities experienced severe flooding in 1981 and again in 1998, causing considerable property damage. During the 1981 flood, 300 dairy cows drowned.

Rather than proceed with the master plan in 2000 the flood control district met with residents and experts last year to explain the need for specific projects.

The results will protect area residents at a cost of $49.2 million. The original cost estimate, in 1994, was $14.3 million.

Eubanks attributed the higher costs to additional work, such as building concrete channels along the Lower Muddy River, buying rights-of-way and building a concrete debris basin near the Clark County Fairgrounds.