Contingency and Emergency: Prior Planning, "Real Live" Execution, and Post Mortem of the Results

Southern Nevada receives 90% of its water supply from the Colorado River and Lake Mead, located 20 miles east of the Las Vegas Valley. To convey this water from Lake Mead to the Las Vegas Valley, a substantial infrastructure of pumping stations, water treatment facilities, laterals and metering stations is utilized. To ensure the reliability of water deliveries to member agencies, as well as the conveyance system itself, Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA or "Authority) has developed contingency and emergency plans to address unforeseen outages that might interfere with the conveyance of this water supply. In January 2011, a drill rig penetrated a large diameter lateral. Of course, the lateral was in the middle of major arterial (6 travel, 1 turning lanes) roadway, with businesses lining both sides of the street. With the emergency at hand, and once the utility owner was determined and notified, Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) initiated their emergency plan and response. This paper will examine the preparation of SNWA's emergency plan, the plan implementation during the January 2011 interruption, and a "post mortem" examination of what parts of the plan worked, or didn't (and why) and how their iterative process helps the Authority better prepare for such incidents in the future.