By Kevin Brown, General Manager

Virgin Valley Water District

The Virgin Valley Water District is moving forward with several projects that will impact residents and visitors in the Mesquite/Bunkerville area. Projects that will start over the next two months include Well 27A replacement, Airport tank rehabilitation, Virgin River transmission line, Riverside Road pipe replacement, and Well 1A arsenic treatment plant. Because each of these projects will have some impact on residents (temporary noise, traffic, decreased water pressure), we ask for your patience as each of these projects are necessary critical infrastructure improvements.

Near the intersection of Pioneer Blvd. and Oasis Blvd., drilling has begun on a replacement water well. The new well will replace one that failed two years ago. There will be noise associated with the drilling operations on a 24 hours per day, seven days a week basis. This will last approximately 10 – 20 days. The contractor will construct a protective sound wall to help ease the noise for local residents, but not all of the noise can be completely mitigated. The new well is expected to be up and running in time for the 2017 peak water demand season.

The Airport tank rehabilitation project will begin around Christmas time. The Airport tank, located near the Del Monte subdivision, will be taken offline, completely drained, sandblasted on the inside, repainted, and pipes that enter into and exit out of the tank will be replaced. There will be localized noise from the contractor’s air compressor, traffic pattern adjustments for the pipe work, and decreased water pressure to nearly everyone’s water on the north side of I-15 during this project. The Airport tank will be brought back online in early March 2017.

The Virgin River transmission line will cross the Virgin River near the Bunkerville Bridge. This project is expected to start in January 2017 and be completed by April 2017. We don’t expect any significant impacts to residents.

The Riverside Road pipe replacement project will replace the main water line that runs from the Bunkerville Bridge up to Mesquite Blvd. The District is working with the City of Mesquite on a joint project so that travelers will not be disrupted with construction cones twice. As the Water District replaces its pipes, the city will install all new roadway on Riverside Road. Residents can expect traffic disruptions/detours and short local water outages as services will be connected to the new waterline. Work on this project is expected to start in March 2017 and the pipe replacement portion be completed by May 2017.

The Well 1A Arsenic treatment plant project is next to the Bunkerville Town Cemetery (north side). We plan to build a new fence/wall around the well site, add new site piping that will connect the treatment plant up with the existing pipeline under Riverside Road (near the intersection of Riverside Road and Virgin Street), install a pump down the well hole, and construct a building at the well site to house the arsenic treatment plant. Residents can expect noise from construction work as we install the pump and construct the building. There will be traffic delays as the pipe is connected across Riverside Road. Work on this project is expected to start in February 2017 and be completed by July 2017.

We will do our best to keep the public informed about the progress of these projects that are necessary updates or repairs to our water system infrastructure. Most of them are made possible by the new rates approved by the VVWD Board of Directors in April 2015 and will ensure that the District will continue to provide our ratepayers with the best service possible.

If you have questions about any of the projects, please call the District at 702-346-5731.