Plan proposed to lower intake

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003 | 9:05 a.m.

The National Park Service is studying the possibility of lowering the original intake pipe that delivers drinking water from Lake Mead to the Las Vegas Valley because the drought continues to draw the surface down.

By lowering the intake pipe, the Park Service believes both water supply and water quality can be preserved as the drought continues, Lake Mead National Recreation Area Superintendent Bill Dickinson said.

The original intake pipe was built by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1971.

A second intake was completed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority in 2000. Both intakes were built on the east side of Saddle Island near the Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Facility.

The lake's surface has dropped from roughly 1,213 feet in January 2000 to 1,143 feet in August 2003, Dickinson said.

As the surface waters drop, a plume of water containing polluted runoff from the valley and treated wastewater from the valley's three treatment plants has been sinking closer to the intake pipe, Dickinson said.

Algae and other solids in the water clog filters at the drinking water treatment plant, prompting more advanced water treatment, Dickinson said.

Although the treated drinking water meets all federal and state standards, the cost of treating it is higher and its quality may be compromised in the future if the drought continues.

If the 12-foot-wide intake pipe were 150 feet lower, extended by a welded steel pipe down the side of Saddle Island, water quality would improve, Dickinson said.

Written comments by the public on the issue will be accepted through Oct. 25. Send comments to: Superintendent, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Attention: Environmental Compliance Specialist, 601 Nevada Way, Boulder City, NV 89005.