LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — With storms in the forecast, Clark County Wetlands Park is preparing for whatever comes their way. The Las Vegas Wash runs right through the nature preserve. They have worked to make sure that flood channel is clear while recovering from a major fire.
“If you’ve ever seen any of the concrete channels around town… any trash that ends up in there all gets brought down here… We’ve seen lots of mattresses. We’ve actually found a hot tub once,” explained Ben Jurand, environmental specialist for Clark County Wetlands Park.
In April, heavy machinery was brought in to remove 12 dumpsters of trash.
“Last year we spent a somewhere in in the vicinity about $140,000 to clean up the trash,” Jurand said.
Back in March, 34 acres in the heart of the park were burned.
“This was actually a very popular spot for people to come and see an owl nest, and unfortunately, that was lost in the fire,” Jurand said. Now, several months later, the area has bounced back quickly. Some of the native plants are six feet or taller.
“Fire does have in some cases a restorative effect… and we’ve done a little bit of planting to try to help things along,” Jurand stated.
Ash trees, grown from a partnership with the National Park Service have been planted in burn areas. A plant bank of 2,000 trees were grown at Lake Mead long before the fire from seeds collected at the Wetlands years ago.
“We see some of these ash trees are growing really well… I like to think of it as all those ash trees are finally coming home,” Jurand beamed.
The park says they really can’t predict the impact of storms ahead of time, but even if it doesn’t rain in the Wetlands and a flood happens somewhere else in the valley, it could have a huge impact. They are ready to quickly start cleanup efforts again if a big storm pushes a lot of trash downstream.
The park is starting a volunteer cleanup program in September that will run through next spring. Volunteers will also help with trail improvements, rock art and more. Learn more here.
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