Citizens asked to speak on growth woes

About 50 people came out to a meeting Tuesday night to hear the bad news: Rapid growth in the Las Vegas Valley is leading to a decline in air and water quality.

But Citizen Alert and the Sierra Club, which sponsored the first of five meetings on "Smart Growth," also asked those attending the meeting to contribute to the answers by offering their suggestions for dealing with the issues.

Russell Roberts, air quality planner for Clark County, told those who came to the meeting in Henderson that the valley already is in violation of two clean air standards -- for dust and carbon monoxide pollution -- and the rapidly growing population will only make things worse in the years ahead unless action is taken now. He said "bad things happen" to communities that don't take action to clean up the air.

Those bad things include the loss of federal dollars for highway programs and other uses and the possible takeover of local clean air programs by the federal government.

He said the county and Clark County Health District are moving forward with plans to curtail one type of fine dust and carbon monoxide, but those plans will require sacrifices in time and money from the people living here. And the likely establishment of rules for even finer dust and ozone will add more challenges to the years ahead, Roberts said.

"Transportation and air quality are so closely linked right now in terms of federal law that they are almost indistinguishable," Roberts said. "Decisions about these have to be considered together."

Dust from construction and vacant land is another issue that has to be addressed, he said.

Larry Paulson, a retired UNLV biology professor, warned those in the audience that air isn't the only thing to worry about. Water also is affected by growth, he said.

He pointed out that 140 million gallons of waste water flows from the valley into Lake Mead -- about six miles upstream from where the valley's drinking water is drawn.

Paulson argued that the waste water should be collected, treated and reused rather than sending it back to the lake.

"Then you don't have to worry about drinking water from Lake Mead anymore," he said.

The reason the region sends the water back is to garner "return water credits" under the terms of the Colorado River compact, Paulson told the crowd. But he said it doesn't make environmental sense and it doesn't make fiscal sense to send the water back to the lake.

He said Summerlin, for example, sends its waste water 50 miles back to the lake rather than treating it and using it to water golf courses.

Most of those at the meeting said they considered growth-related environmental problems serious issues.

"It's definitely a huge issue," said Sean Ainsworth, a fourth-generation valley resident who works for the Las Vegas Valley Water District. Ainsworth was one of a handful of people attending the meeting who would like to see growth restricted -- in his case, by limiting the number of building permits.

Ursula Wilson-Booth, a retired nurse who lives in Boulder City, said she sees nothing but bad effects from growth.

"You can't escape from it," she said. "I feel rather pessimistic about it. It affects every factor of life.

"I feel powerless," she said. Wilson-Booth said she didn't have any immediate suggestions for curbing the effects of growth.

The meetings will continue through this month. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, Las Vegas.

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