(KTNV) — Clark County crews broke ground on a new detention basin Wednesday in the northeast Las Vegas Valley.
It's designed to help keep raging flood water coming off Frenchman Mountain from seriously impacting residents below.
"I think it'll be great," said Leah Chalfant, a northeast valley resident of nearly nine years. "I know our backyard flooded; we had our hot tub was empty and it was completely overflooded."
Chalfant says last year's monsoon hit them hard, telling me flood waters filled her backyard and surrounding streets, making it tough to drive through.
A nearby neighbor says last year's storms did more than $60,000 worth of damage to his property.
The destructive impact to the area led the county to build this new detention basin.
“It’s kind of like a big bathtub," said Clark County Regional Flood Control District General Manager & Chief Engineer Steven Parrish. "All the water will run in, it’ll hold it and release a small amount out. That will protect the homes, school and businesses downstream.”
The detention basin is named after Jim McGaughey. He is a former state assemblyman who sponsored a law that helped establish flood control districts across the state in 1985.
The new Jim McGaughey Detention Basin will mark the 107th built in the county. The flood control district says they plan to build 32 more as part of their current plan. Chalfant says the basins are critically needed, especially in the northeast valley.
"We're like right at the bottom of where everything comes down and just crushes," Chalfant said.
Crews say they expect construction to start next month and to last for nearly a year.
