Clark County Regional Flood Control District Arc Hydro (CCRFCD Arc Hydro): Toward Ongoing Stormwater Master Planning

The Las Vegas Valley represents an extreme hydrologic condition in that its high density population must manage discrete but very heavy rainfall events in an erstwhile arid climate. The runoff from these events is routed by way of an elaborate existing and proposed flood control facility system which is composed of washes, channels, storm drains and detention basins. First developed in 1986, the CCRFCD Master Plan has been an excellent planning document for major flood control facilities within the Las Vegas Valley. Currently, the CCRFCD uses a periodic (every 5 years) stormwater infrastructure master plan update process, which requires hydrologic modeling to understand system response to major storm events. Over time, the Master Plan Update (MPU) has evolved into a technical tool for guiding local governmental agencies and private consultants in the development of both public and private property. This paper will describe the design and on-going development of an Arc Hydro based GIS database for the Las Vegas Valley. This database will provide the geographic and technological foundation for regional hydrologic modeling, efficient permitting, and emergency response modeling. Benefits of moving to this standard include 1) an in-built geometric network that can be used for delineation of drainage area and stream tracing, 2) the integration of existing CCRFCD GIS and hydrologic modeling data into a single database, and 3) making accessible the broad variety of tools that already exist for the Arc Hydro platform.