Las Vegas Wash Time-Of-Travel Study
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Las Vegas Wash Time-of-Travel Study Research and Development Office Science and Technology Program Final Report ST-2016-2262-1 U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Research and Development Office June 2016 Mission Statements The U.S. Department of the Interior protects America’s natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future. The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 T1. REPORT DATE May 2016 T2. REPORT TYPE Research T3. DATES COVERED 10-01-2015 to 6-30-2016 T4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Las Vegas Wash Time-of-Travel Study 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER RY1541EN201522262 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 1541 (S&T) 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Blasius, Becky, Lower Colorado Region, Resources Management Office 2262 Kirsch, Janet, Lower Colorado Region, Resources Management Office (retired) 5e. TASK NUMBER Danner, Allison, Lower Colorado Region, Engineering Services Office 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER LC-2628 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Resources Management Office REPORT NUMBER Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Engineering Services Office ESO Project Number 2016-003 PO Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89006 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S Research and Development Office ACRONYM(S) U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, R&D: Research and Development Office PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225-0007 BOR/USBR: Bureau of Reclamation DOI: Department of the Interior 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 2016-2262-1 12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Final report can be downloaded from Reclamation’s website: https://www.usbr.gov/research/ 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) This study estimated travel time for the Las Vegas Wash (Wash) and compared the results with previous travel time measurements. Travel times were measured using a fluorescent Rhodamine WT 20 dye. Dye concentration was collected at 10 sampling sites using multiprobe dataloggers with Rhodamine sensors. The raw data were corrected for background measurements of Rhodamine concentration and analyzed to determine travel times and velocities. The average travel time for water through the Wash between Vegas Valley Drive and Site S8 located near the Las Vegas Marina boat launch was 14.23 hours. For the reach between the confluence of the Wash with discharges from the Clark County Water Reclamation District’s (CCWRD) Central and Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facilities and the Northshore Road bridge, the travel time was approximately 9.6 hours. The average velocity of water in the Wash was one mile per hour. Compared with travel times from previous studies, the travel time observed in this study is an intermediate value between the travel time observed in 1980 and the time observed in 1986, indicating that construction of weirs and vegetation establishment over the last 15 years has slowed the average velocity of water in the Wash and increased the travel time. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Las Vegas Wash, Travel Time, Retention Time, Dye Tracer, Rhodamine 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES PERSON Becky Blasius 21 a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE U 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER U U U 702-293-8109 S Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) P Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 PEER REVIEW DOCUMENTATION Project and Document Information Project Name Las Vegas Wash Time-of-Travel Study WOID �------6003B Document 2016-003 Las Vegas Wash Dye Study Project Report DRAFT 2016-03- 31.docx Document Author(s) Becky Blasius, Janet Kirsch, Allison Danner Document date ����-"--------March 2016 Peer Reviewer Doug Blatchford "This information is distributed solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. It has not been formally disseminated by the Bureau of Reclamation. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent Reclamation's determination or policy." Review Certification Peer Reviewer: I have reviewed the assigned items/sections(s) noted for the above document and believe them to be in accordance with the project requirements, standards of the profession, and Reclamation policy. ,L, Reviewer O o, Date reviewed Ji·vbr ;i,_ I UJ i b e . ?i-cH,, l (Signa·t e U Acronyms and Abbreviations Acronym or Abbreviation Definition cfs cubic feet per second CCWRD Clark County Water Reclamation District Site S2 The location immediately downstream of the points Confluence at which the Clark County Water Reclamation District (CCWRD) Wastewater Treatment Facility and the CCWRD Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant discharge treated wastewater to the Wash mi/hr miles per hour msl mean sea level ppb Parts per billion. Equivalent to µg/L U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation Reclamation SNWA Southern Nevada Water Authority µg/L Micrograms per liter. Equivalent to parts per billion Wash Las Vegas Wash Executive Summary The purpose of this study was to estimate travel time for the Las Vegas Wash (Wash) and to compare the results with previous travel time measurements. Travel times were measured through a dye tracer study using Rhodamine WT 20 fluorescent dye. Dye concentration was collected at 10 sampling sites using battery-powered Eureka TDX multiprobe dataloggers fitted with Turner Designs Cyclops Rhodamine sensors, with measurements recorded at one minute intervals. The raw data were corrected for background measurements of Rhodamine concentration and analyzed to determine travel times and velocities for the entire length of the study area and for individual reaches within the Wash. The average travel time for water through the Wash between Vegas Valley Drive and Site S8 located near the Las Vegas Marina boat launch (14.33 miles downstream from the dye input and 2.72 miles below the full pool level of Lake Mead) was 14.23 hours. For the reach between the Confluence of the Wash with discharges from the Clark County Water Reclamation District’s (CCWRD) Central and Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facilities (8.85 miles above the full pool elevation of Lake Mead) and the Northshore Road bridge (0.9 miles above Lake Mead’s full pool elevation), the travel time was approximately 9.6 hours. The average velocity of water in the Wash during this study was one mile per hour. Compared with travel times from previous studies, the travel time observed in 2015 is an intermediate value between the travel times observed in 1980 and 1986, indicating that construction of weirs and vegetation establishment over the last 15 years has slowed the average velocity of water in the Wash and increased the travel time. i Contents Page Contents ....................................................................................................ii Introduction ...............................................................................................1 Study Overview and Purpose ............................................................. 1 Study Background ............................................................................... 1 History of the Las Vegas Wash .................................................................... 1 Previous Studies .......................................................................................... 3 Study Area ............................................................................................ 4 Methods .....................................................................................................7 Data Collection and Sampling ............................................................ 7 Dye Input .............................................................................................. 9 Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 10 Results ................................................................................................... 12 Travel Time for Las Vegas Wash ...................................................... 12 Velocity ............................................................................................... 14 Comparison to Other Studies ........................................................... 15 Discussion and Conclusion ................................................................... 16 References .............................................................................................. 17 Supporting Data Sets ........................................................................ 17 ii Tables Page Table 1. Summary of travel times in hours found by previous studies ................... 4 Table 2. Multiprobe sampling locations ................................................................. 7 Table 3. Travel times in hours .............................................................................. 12 Table 4. Reach velocities. ..................................................................................... 15 Table 5. Summary of travel times in hours found by previous studies. Reclamation travel times were estimated from the peaks for Sites S2 (Confluence), the average of S4b and S5 (upstream and downstream of Pabco Road), and S7 (upstream of Northshore Road)..................