On July 14, a small segment of the River Mountains Loop Trail (RMLT) will close temporarily. The four-week closure is necessary to make improvements to accommodate construction activities associated with the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) third intake project. The half-mile trail segment to be closed is the section from the former site of Lake Mead Cruises (just north of Boulder Harbor on Lakeshore Road), up to the Nevada Department of Wildlife Fish Hatchery.
Improvements will include realignment of the trail to incorporate a culvert that will route the RMLT below Saddle Cove Road. The culvert will be put in place to protect RMLT users from construction traffic related to the SNWA third intake project. The rest of the RMLT will not be affected by this work.
Background on the Intake No. 3:
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) presently operates two water intakes at Saddle Island on the west shore of Lake Mead, approximately five miles northwest of Hoover Dam and approximately 20 miles east of the center of Las Vegas, within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Severe drought has caused declining water levels in Lake Mead during recent years. Long-term water supply modeling conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation indicates that the lake level may decline even further until the system recovers from the recent severe drought. The SNWA is constructing a third deep-water intake, Intake No. 3, (and other associated project components) to protect the existing water system capacity.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
