Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons^™

Report On Wastewater Disposal To Board Of County Commissioners, Clark County Nevada, Clair N. Sawyer

Publications (WR)

This report is concerned with the management of waste-waters and subsurface drainage from the City of Las Vegas and its environs and the BMI complex, all in Clark County, Nevada. The prime objective is to recommend a plan of action which will utilize the natural resources of the area in the least costly manner and still protect Lake Mead for recreational purposes and use as a public water supply, At this writing, conditions in the upper Las Vegas arm of Boulder Basin are quite unsatisfactory for some recreational purposes due to the extensive blooms of algae which develop. Experience at …

Final Report - Lake Mead Monitoring Program, James E. Deacon

Publications (WR)

The Lake Mead monitoring program has developed a substantial body of information on the physical, chemical and biological limnology of Lake Mead since 1972. This report summarizes pertinent aspects of that data, with emphasis on studies completed in 1975 -76. It is our continuing hope that the data developed by us will be useful to an ever broader group of users of the water resource represented by Lake Mead. We have been privileged to see our data have a significant influence in some very important water resource decisions over the past four years. There is every reason to expect that …

Distribution Of Stream Pollution In Lake Water, Richard W. Tew, Samuel S. Egdorf, James E. Deacon

Publications (WR)

Wastewater effluent-laden waters from Las Vegas Wash (LVW) form a density current that may be detected in Boulder Basin of Lake Mead at considerable distances from the wash estuary. This led to the suspicion that water from the inflowing stream [40 mgd (1.5 X 10⁵ cu m/day)] might not be rapidly diluted in the enormous volume of the lake [19 mil acre-ft (2.3 X 10¹⁰ cu m)], but might persist as a recognizable entity to the vicinity of the intake of a major water source for populous Clark County, Nev.

Because of the detection sensitivity implicit in the …

Socioeconomic Impacts Of The Second Stage Of The Southern Nevada Water Project And Its Alternatives, William T. White, Bernard Malamud, John E. Nixon

Publications (WR)

This study evaluates the socioeconomic impacts of the Second Stage of the Southern Nevada Water Project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, comparing that project with the alternatives of importing water from Nevada areas somewhat removed from the Las Vegas Valley and of leaving the water supply of the Valley basically as it is, the no project alternative.

The study follows, with adaptations and extensions, the general methodology for socioeconomic impact studies as developed and still being evolved in successive socioeconomic analyses of Bureau of Reclamation water projects. The methodology recognizes that the complexity of modern society and water …

Seasonal And Spatial Variation In Primary Productivity In Boulder Basin, Lake Mead, Clark County, Nevada, Isamu Aoki

Publications (WR)

The ¹⁴C light and dark bottle technique for measurement of primary production was utilized as a means of assessing the amount of inorganic carbon being converted Into organic form by the photosynthesis of phytoplankton populations In the Boulder Basin of Lake Mead.

Spatial and time series changes of productivity levels observed at eight sampling locations within Boulder Basin Indicate that the Influence of treated municipal arts' industrial effluent flowing into Les Vegas Bay is contributing high levels of available nutrients at Las Vegas Wash Inlet to cause productivity to approximate those levels associated with polluted waters.

Productivity levels at …

Biological Inventory In Conjunction With The Las Vegas Wash Unit, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act Title Ii (P.L. 93-320), W. Glen Bradley, J. Scott Miller

Publications (WR)

The present report is a biological inventory in conjunction with the Las Vegas Wash Unit, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act, Title II. The boundaries of the project encompass sections of North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, East Las Vegas and areas along Las Vegas Wash extending to its drainage point in Las Vegas Bay in Lake Mead. Therefore, it encompasses a wide array of ecological situations and landscapes ranging from essentially natural to various stages of urban development. This biological inventory presents basic ecological classifications, descriptions of vegetation, lists of vascular plants and vertebrates known to occur in the area. …

Report On Water Pollution Problems In Las Vegas Wash And Las Vegas Bay, Environmental Protection Agency

Publications (WR)

This report was prepared by the Federal Water- Quality Administration, Pacific Southwest Region, now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region IX, at the request of the State of Nevada, Department of Health, Welfare, and rehabilitation. In a letter, dated December 5, 1969, this agency asked for technical assistance, as authorized by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, in developing discharge standards appropriate for Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, and the Lower Colorado River. The subsequent study was performed by EPA from January through August, 1970. The establishment of Nevada State Water Quality Standards for these waters will enable responsible officials …

Measurement Of Currents In Lake Mead With The Deep Water Isotopic Current Analyzer (Dwica), J. J. Sartoris, D. A. Hoffman, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

In Nov 1967, a Deep Water Isotopic Current Analyzer (DWICA) was used to study current patterns in the Boulder Basin of Lake Mead to determine if low-quality water from Las Vegas Bay might enter the Southern Nevada Water Project intake on Saddle Island. Secondary objectives were to study the general current patterns in Boulder Basin and the effect of power discharges at Hoover Dam on these currents. Results of current measurements at 3 stations in Boulder Basin are given. Observations indicate a definite possibility that low-quality water from Las Vegas Bay might enter the water intake on Saddle Island. Current …

Micronutrients And Biological Patterns In Lake Mead, Hasan K. Qashu, Lorne G. Everett, J. S. Carlson, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

Progressive increases in concentration of dissolved solids in the Colorado River water from Lake Powell to Imperial Dam seem to alter plankton dynamics and biological productivity of the river. Also, changes in biological productivity and micronutrients concentrations occur within the same reservoir. Development of a digital simulation model to predict micronutrients concentrations and biological productivity is necessary for diagnosing changes in plankton population and effluent-carrying capacity of the system. The objectives of the study are: (1) to determine trace metal balance at different locations in Lake Mead, (2) to measure biological productivity and conduct plankton population counts at each sampling …

The Effect Of Las Vegas Wash Effluent Upon The Water Quality In Lake Mead, D. A. Hoffman, P. R. Tramutt, F. C. Heller, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

This study developed from observations made during an earlier study on Lake Mead which was reported in CHE-70, Water Quality Study of Lake Mead. Results from that study indicated that poor-quality water was flowing into the Las Vegas Bay reach of Boulder Basin, Lake Mead. Also reports of deteriorating water quality, resulting in taste and odors in domestic water supplies taken from Boulder Basin as well as a reduction in the attractiveness of Las Vegas Bay for recreational uses caused by aquatic plants and algae blooms, indicated a need for a concentrated study concerning the effects of flows from Las …

Definite Plan Report On Southern Nevada Water Project, Nevada (First Stage): Project Development Report, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

This report presents the results of definite plan studies of the Southern Nevada Water Project in Clark County, southeastern Nevada. Construction of this project was authorized under Public Law 89-292 dated October 22, 1965. Authorization of the Southern Nevada Water Project was based on a project plan outlined in the feasibility report of August 1963 as supplemented in April 1965. The definite plan studies have confirmed the general project plan of the 1963 report as supplemented but some important modifications are now contemplated as explained in Part IV.

The project will be constructed in three stages. Stage development is desirable …

Development, Verification, And Use Of Methods To Model Chemical And Thermal Processes Lakes Mead And Powell, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

PURPOSE The purpose of the proposed research is to quantify the effects that Lakes Mead and Powell have on the salinity in the Colorado River system, and to evaluate changes that cap be made to the operating system of the reservoirs (within legal/institutional constraints) to enhance salt precipitation and/or minimize evaporation within the reservoirs. The effect of any changes (i.e., selective withdrawal uses, pumped storage, etc.) on reservoir evaporation could also be evaluated with a goal of minimizing evaporation. This will be accomplished through the development of a mathematical model of the reservoirs as described below. BACKGROUND Two major problems …

Ground-Water Appraisal Of The Meadow Valley Area, Lincoln And Clark Counties, Nevada, F. Eugene Rush

Publications (WR)

This report, the 27th in the series of reconnaissance ground-water studies which were initiated following authorization by the I960 Legislature, gives the results of a study of the Meadow Valley area. This area includes eight valleys in southeastern Nevada - - Patterson, Spring, Eagle, Dry, Rose, Panaca, Clover, and Lower Meadow Valley - - all part of the Colorado River drainage system.

This study was made and report prepared by F. Eugene Rush, Geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey.

These reconnaissance ground-water resources surveys make available pertinent information of great and immediate value to many State and Federal agencies. …

Comprehensive Survey Of Sedimentation In Lake Mead, 1948-49, W. O. Smith, C. P. Vetter, G. B. Cummings, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

Reservoirs are becoming an increasingly prominent feature of the American landscape. Built for flood mitigation and to change a fluctuating river into a dependable source of water for irrigation, power, and other purposes, they are predestined, like natural lakes, to be destroyed sometime following their creation. Sedimentation sooner or later robs most lakes and reservoirs of their capacity to store water. The significance of sedimentation in the life of Lake Mead, the largest artificial reservoir in the world, was realized when the plan for the reservoir was conceived, and an aerial survey of the floor was made in 1935 before …

Geological Survey Circular 346: First Fourteen Years Of Lake Mead, Harold E. Thomas

Publications (WR)

This circular summarizes the results of recent studies of Lake Mead and its environs. Area-capacity tables, prepared on the basis of a hydrographic survey of the lake in 1948-49, show that the capacity of the reservoir was reduced 4. 9 percent during the first 14 years after Hoover Dam was completed, but the usable capacity was reduced only 3.2 percent. Practically all of this reduction was caused by accumulation of sediment in the reservoir. Studies of inflow and outflow indicate that the reservoir has a total storage capacity about 12 percent greater than that shown by the area-capacity table, because …

Water Levels And Artesian Pressure In Wells In Las Vegas Valley And In Other Valleys In Nevada, 1913-1945, T. W. Robinson, George B. Maxey, J. C. Fredericks, C. Harry Jameson

Publications (WR)

The rock formations of the earth are great natural reservoirs in which a part of the water derived from rain and snow is stored. Water levels and artesian pressure in wells register the stages of these natural reservoirs. The changes in water levels or artesian pressure are indicative of the depletion or replenishment of the natural reservoirs. Systematic and periodic measurements of water levels and artesian pressure in wells have been made in Nevada, by State and Federal agencies from time to time. However, only a few of these measurements have ever been published. Under the cooperative arrangement between the …