Nevada Town Predicts Possible Flood & Fire Hazards

April 8, 2019

Centuries of storm water runoff have carved a natural flood channel in Henderson, Nev.

A Henderson, Nev., deforestation project in Pittman Wash has residents taking a stand against city hall, according to the Nevada Current.

“There’s some really overgrown areas,” said Ed McGuire, Henderson’s public works chief, to Green Valley residents at a meeting at the Silver Springs Recreation Center. “Fires are a real concern. That’s what started the maintenance this winter was overgrowth that posed a fire hazard.”

According to the Nevada Current, this section of Pittman Wash is a desert oasis. The trails were constructed by Eagle Scouts, who relined the paths with pebbles following the rare storms that turn the wash into a dangerous floodpath.

“We know what you guys have done with the channels. They don’t look so nice,” said resident Randall Roske, referring to the nearby cement washes, according to the Nevada Current. “We have a little portion of the past in the wash. It’s a great enhancement.”

The trails and vegetation are obstacles in the way of performing maintenance on a sewer main that serves 50,000 Henderson residents, according to the city public works officials.

“We’ve gotten ourselves behind the eight ball,” said a Henderson utilities official, according to Nevada Current. “It’s difficult to get to the utilities.”

According to Nevada Current, the sewer line was built in the 1980s to help facilitate Green Valley development.

“Since the 1990s the Pittman Wash, sanitary sewer system, and corresponding access road has been adversely impacted by increased recurring flood events due to the urbanized watershed, the introduction of invasive plant species that has resulted in increased density and height of vegetation, increased water level elevations due to the overgrowth in vegetation, and the recent surfacing of groundwater as a result of over-irrigation,” the city’s website said.

According to the city, the wash stretched from Pecos Road to Arroyo Grande is an important component of the flood plan and is designed to carry more than 3 million gal of water per minute.