Stay out of Las Vegas Wash this week, officials warn
The National Park Service is warning hikers, birders and other Las Vegas Wash-goers to avoid parts of the waterway this week.
Through Thursday, Southern Nevada Water Authority will hold back and release large amounts of water downstream of Northshore Road, creating intermittent high- and low-flow situations in the wash multiple times a day, according to a tweet from Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Alert! Stay out of the lower Las Vegas wash June 20-22, 2023.
Multiple times per day, the @SNWA_H2O will hold back & release water, creating a series of low water and higher flow events.
Enjoy the wash from afar, staying on higher ground.#LakeMead #HikingLasVegas pic.twitter.com/Gcke97JLOG
— Lake Mead (@lakemeadnps) June 19, 2023
“Enjoy the wash from afar on these days, staying on trails that keep you on higher ground,” Lake Mead officials wrote in another tweet.
The three-day experiment is part of a study on erosion control in the lower wash below Lake Las Vegas, said Robin Rockey, a public outreach coordinator with the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
A team of researchers — including one person in a kayak — will be in the wash studying the flow of the waterway during the low-flow periods to determine the need for additional weirs in the lower part of the wash, Rockey said.
Weirs are used in waterways to regulate and spread out the flow of water and prevent the wash from deepening.
“We need to stabilize the banks of the Las Vegas Wash, and we do that by building weirs to spread the water out so that it doesn’t erode the banks,” Rockey said.
The water authority conducted two similar events in 2022.
The Las Vegas Wash acts as the primary waterway for the valley’s excess runoff and treated wastewater to flow back into Lake Mead, with roughly 200 million gallons flowing through the channel daily.
Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.