The Clark County Regional Flood Control District (CCRFCD) was created in 1985 by the Nevada Legislature allowing Clark County to provide broad solutions to flooding problems. The District has developed plans and so far successfully continued working on a 50-year program to eliminate most flooding from a 100-year flood in the populated areas for which the CCRFCD is responsible.
Voters in 1986 approved a quarter cent sales tax to fund construction of regional flood control facilities. The first project began in 1988. As of June 2013, a total of $1.7 bill was spent on flood control, including construction of 90 detention basins and approximately 581 miles of channels and underground storm drains. To date, 51 square miles have been removed from federally identified FEMA flood zones, saving residents millions of dollars per year in flood insurance premiums.
The Regional Flood Control District is more than 75 percent complete with the Master Plan. Another 31 detention basins are planned, along with 226 miles of conveyance.
The District's website, provides citizens information about the District and the progress of flood control in Clark County. The site also gives current rainfall information on approximately 189 locations throughout the county.
The District produces a 30-minute television news program six times per year that updates the community about the progress of flood control and provides information about flash flood safety. The program airs about 40 times per month on Cox Cable channels 2 and 4, as well as on stations in Laughlin and Mesquite.
Since Las Vegas is located in a basin with a single outlet, the Las Vegas Wash, all rain runoff drains to the east side of the basin where it will eventually be deposited into Lake Mead. Rainfall in the surrounding mountain ranges, can cause flooding in the area as water flows off the mountains onto the valley floor. The area is also subject to localized weather events. It is possible for an area to receive heavy rainfall in a short time, while nearby areas as close as one or two miles (2-3 km) away receive little or no rain. Additional history about past flood events is available as well as some historical rainfall data.
The increase of hardscape as the valley has developed has contributed to an increase of runoff over time.
To help alleviate the damage caused by flooding, the Clark County Regional Flood Control District has spent millions of dollars to build detention basins and concrete drainage channels throughout the area. The belief is that these structures will control the flow of water when there is storm runoff and reduce flooding in areas below the basins and near the channels and washes.
The detention basins operated by the district vary in size from 10 to 50 acres (4.0 to 20.2 ha) and are up to 50 feet (15 m) deep.
Given the topography of the area, some areas may not be fixable. One example being the Flamingo Wash where the channel overflows into the Imperial Palace parking garage during flash flooding events.
With the rapid growth occurring in the valley, the plan and finances have not been able to keep up. As a result, developers are deciding to build in areas not yet protected by detention basins or other control measures. This is causing many new home buyers to deal with damage or severe runoff on local streets which are used as flood channels when other facilities are not available.[ citation needed ]
Heavy rainfall can cause localized flash flooding. A thunderstorm hit the northwest part of the city of Las Vegas for two hours in August 2003, causing some hail damage and considerable water damage. Heavy localized flooding occurred, with property damage reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In February 2005, the southwest part of the Vegas Valley was hard hit by flooding from the mountain rainfall runoff. Higher than average precipitation that same winter was responsible for significant damage in Mesquite and Overton which, as of that point in time, had not received much attention since their populations were so much smaller than the Las Vegas valley area.
In addition to building and maintaining flood control projects, the District also operates a Flood Threat Recognition System of ALERT rain and stream gage, with the cooperation of the United States Geological Survey and the National Weather Service. This system collects hydrometeorological data primarily for the purpose of detecting situations which could cause flooding.
Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada, which also comprises the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The land area of Clark County is 8,061 square miles (20,880 km2), or roughly the size of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,265,461. Most of the county population resides in the Las Vegas Census County Divisions, which has 2,196,623 people as of the 2020 Census. It is by far the most populous county in Nevada, and the 11th-most populous county in the United States. It covers 7% of the state's land area but holds 73% of the state's population, making Nevada the most centralized state in the United States.
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civil engineering and public health. Human changes to the environment often increase the intensity and frequency of flooding. Examples for human changes are land use changes such as deforestation and removal of wetlands, changes in waterway course or flood controls such as with levees. Global environmental issues also influence causes of floods, namely climate change which causes an intensification of the water cycle and sea level rise. For example, climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and stronger. This leads to more intense floods and increased flood risk.
Laughlin is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States. Laughlin lies 90 miles (140 km) south of Las Vegas, in the far southern tip of Nevada. As a resort town, it is known for its gaming and water recreation. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,658. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Laughlin as a census-designated place (CDP). It is located on the Colorado River, downstream from the Davis Dam and Lake Mohave, and directly across from the much larger Bullhead City, Arizona. The nearby communities of Bullhead City, Arizona; Needles, California; Fort Mohave, Arizona; and Mohave Valley, Arizona, bring the area's total population to about 100,000. Laughlin is also 286 miles (460 km) northeast of Los Angeles.
Mesquite is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States adjacent to the Arizona state line and 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 20,471. The city is located in the Virgin River valley adjacent to the Virgin Mountains in the northeastern part of the Mojave Desert. It is home to a growing retirement community, as well as several casino resorts and golf courses.
A storm drain, storm sewer, highway drain, surface water drain/sewer, or stormwater drain is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfaces such as paved streets, car parks, parking lots, footpaths, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems.
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is coextensive since 2003 with Clark County, Nevada. The Valley is largely defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a 600 sq mi (1,600 km2) basin area surrounded by mountains to the north, south, east and west of the metropolitan area. The Valley is home to the three largest incorporated cities in Nevada: Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas. Eleven unincorporated towns governed by the Clark County government are part of the Las Vegas Township and constitute the largest community in the state of Nevada.
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside counties, before cutting through the northern Santa Ana Mountains via Santa Ana Canyon and flowing southwest through urban Orange County to drain into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and its drainage basin is 2,650 square miles (6,900 km2) in size.
The Meadow Valley Wash is a southern Nevada stream draining the Meadow Watershed that is bordered on three sides by the Great Basin Divide. The wash's Lincoln County head point is in the Wilson Creek Range, and the wash includes two upper confluences. Panaca is along the upper wash, and downstream of Caliente is the wash's confluence with its east fork. Just before the junction with the Muddy River, the wash flows from Lincoln County into northeastern Clark County. It flows into the Muddy in the Moapa Valley just west of Glendale adjacent to Interstate 15 approximately 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is a combined city and county law enforcement agency for the City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is headed by the Sheriff of Clark County, who is publicly elected every four years. The sheriff is the only elected head law enforcement officer within the county, and, as such, the department is not under the direct control of its jurisdictional cities, Clark County, or the State of Nevada.
The Clark County Wetlands Park is the largest park in the Clark County, Nevada park system. The park is on the east side of the Las Vegas valley and runs from the various water treatment plants near the natural beginning of the Las Vegas Wash to where the wash flows under Lake Las Vegas and later into Lake Mead.
A detention basin or retarding basin is an excavated area installed on, or adjacent to, tributaries of rivers, streams, lakes or bays to protect against flooding and, in some cases, downstream erosion by storing water for a limited period of time. These basins are also called dry ponds, holding ponds or dry detention basins if no permanent pool of water exists.
A retention basin, sometimes called a retention pond,wet detention basin, or storm water management pond (SWMP), is an artificial pond with vegetation around the perimeter and a permanent pool of water in its design. It is used to manage stormwater runoff, for protection against flooding, for erosion control, and to serve as an artificial wetland and improve the water quality in adjacent bodies of water.
Las Vegas Wash is a 12-mile-long stream which feeds most of the Las Vegas Valley's excess water into Lake Mead. The wash is sometimes called an urban river, and it exists in its present capacity because of an urban population. The wash also works in a systemic conjunction with the pre-existing wetlands that formed the oasis of the Las Vegas Valley. The wash is fed by urban runoff, shallow ground water, reclaimed water used on parks and golf courses, and stormwater.
Nelson is a census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The community is in the Pacific Standard Time zone. The location of Nelson is in El Dorado Canyon, Eldorado Mountains. The town is in the southeast region of the Eldorado Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 37.
The Los Angeles flood of 1938 was one of the largest floods in the history of Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties in southern California. The flood was caused by two Pacific storms that swept across the Los Angeles Basin in February-March 1938 and generated almost one year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. Between 113–115 people were killed by the flooding. The Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers burst their banks, inundating much of the coastal plain, the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, and the Inland Empire. Flood control structures spared parts of Los Angeles County from destruction, while Orange and Riverside Counties experienced more damage.
Floods in the United States are generally caused by excessive rainfall, excessive snowmelt, and dam failure. Below is a list of flood events that were of significant impact to the country during the 20th century, from 1900 through 1999, inclusive.
Trout Canyon is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States.
Beginning on July 24, 2022, and lasting for a week, many flash flooding events hit several areas of the United States. These areas included parts of Missouri and Illinois, especially Greater St. Louis, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, parts of West Virginia, and the Las Vegas Valley. Several rounds of severe thunderstorms began in Missouri on July 24, culminating during July 25 and 26, when St. Louis broke its previous 1915 record for the most rainfall in a span of 24 hours. Governor Mike Parson declared a state of emergency on July 26. Over one hundred people were rescued from floods, and two people were killed. Late on July 27 and into July 28, historic flooding began in central Appalachia, particularly in Kentucky, where a state of emergency was declared. A total of 38 people were killed in Kentucky as a direct result of flooding, with a 39th fatality occurring days later during cleanup efforts and a 40th coming in September during cleanup efforts in Pike County.
A severe flood occurred throughout the Las Vegas Valley on July 8, 1999, during the local monsoon season. The storm brought three inches of rainfall to the area, which usually sees only four inches annually. The flood resulted in two deaths, and left some motorists stranded. Police and firefighters conducted 163 rescues throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Flood waters damaged 353 homes and caused $20.5 million in public property damage. It was the most destructive flood in Las Vegas history. A flood control network, developed by the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, was 20-percent finished at the time, helping to mitigate the severity of the flood.