SCOP Project

SCOP (pronounced scope) is the Systems Conveyance and Operations Program. It was initiated to address the need to provide alternatives that would protect water quality in the Las Vegas Wash and Las Vegas Bay and Lake Mead. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection monitors both the water quality in Lake Mead and the progress of the CWC SCOP project.

SCOP will perform the following functions:

The planning, design, financing, construction and operation and maintenance of a regional system for the transportation of effluent (finished product) from the Member Agencies’ wastewater treatment facilities and discharges from other legal entities as the CWC (Clean Water Coalition) Members approve, to the ultimate outfall location(s) returning effluent to the Colorado River system or other locations as the CWC Members approve.

SCOP is the result of a variety of engineering efforts to support the goal of the CWC to identify solutions for our community’s wastewater and water quality needs.


Alternate Discharge Location
Effluent, highly treated wastewater, is currently discharged into Lake Mead via the Las Vegas Wash. Effluent has been discharged into Lake Mead via the Las Vegas Wash for approximately 40 years.


The following areas in Lake Mead were considered as alternate discharge locations:
Las Vegas Wash Callville Bay Boulder Islands	`Las Vegas Bay` `Promontory Point`

In early 2004, the Clean Water Coalition (CWC) Citizens Advisory Committee's recommendation, that Boulder Islands be the preferred alternate discharge location for SCOP, was accepted by the CWC Board.

Reasons for SCOP

In 2004, SCOP was seemed necessary for may reasons. The water level in Lake Mead has fallen consistently over the past decade. As this continues to occur, the capacity of Las Vegas Bay to accept effluent discharge, and the dilution capacity of Lake Mead, decreases significantly. This will affect water quality thorughout the entire system. The above picture shows Lake Mead at the 1200-foot elevation. The pictures below show the lake at a level of about 1140 feet, and at a possible 1000-foot elevation. Note the dramatic changes in the Las Vegas Bay.

Effluent from Southern Nevada Water Reclamation Facilities is currently discharged via the Las Vegas Wash into the Las Vegas Bay and Lake Mead. This location is upstream of Saddle Island, the location of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) potable water intakes, which treats and supplies the water to the entire Las Vegas valley. The Boulder Islands discharge location is downstream of the SNWA intakes.

Lake Mead is a national recreation area, and maintaining water quality in the lake for health, safety and recreational purposes is an important aspect of the Boulder Basin Adaptive Management Plan as well as the SCOP project.

SCOP will also benefit the water quality in the Las Vegas Bay by removing much of the effluent from the Las Vegas Wash. As effluent travels through the Las Vegas Wash, untreated contaminants such as groundwater and urban runoff converge with the treated effluent. These untreated particles are then carried into Las Vegas Bay and Lake Mead, which affects the aesthetic quality as well as the water quality of the lake. The SCOP project will allow for controlled management of the effluent and will reduce the volume of the treated effluent now flowing through the Wash by releasing in direcly into the Colorado River System. As a result, the high volume of effluent will no longer converge with the groundwater, urban runoff, etc. in the Wash.

The Boulder Islands location is in an area of Lake Mead that will allow for more efficient mixing and dilution of the effluent after it is discharged into the lake than currently occurs in Las Vegas Bay.

Returning water to the Colorado River System allows for Return Flow Credits. Nevada is allotted a set amount of Colorado River water each year. However, each acre-foot of water returned to the Colorado River System is an additional acre-foot of water Southern Nevada is allowed to use for the Las Vegas valley. Returning reclamimed and highly treated effluent to Lake Mead ensures Southern Nevada can utilize as much Colorado River water as allowed and that we are wisely managing and protecting our limited water resources.