Flooding forces renovations at Desert Rose Golf Course
Mary Bobier was sitting at her kitchen table after she returned from grocery shopping Sept. 11, 2012. Through the glass door in the back of her house, she saw something that came as a surprise.
“What’s going on?” she asked her husband, Gary.
They were shocked to see water flooding the streets.
More than 40 homes near Desert Rose Golf Course, 5483 Club House Drive, were damaged during the 2012 flash flood. The golf course was also under several feet of water.
Bobier, who lives across the street from the houses that back up to the golf course on Walton Heath Avenue, said the water outside was up to her 5-foot-9 husband’s chest.
Inside their home, four inches of water covered the ground.
“I started picking things up off the floor,” Bobier said. “My husband’s work shoes were floating.”
Five weeks went by before the Bobiers could move back into their home.
The 2012 flooding devastated many in the area and emphasized the need to reconstruct the golf course. Because of the serious damage to the course and surrounding neighborhood, officials with the Regional Flood Control District moved up the Las Vegas Wash Project on their timeline.
Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said the flooding was due to the amount of rain and to the fact that the Las Vegas Wash and the Flamingo Wash converge at the golf course, doubling the amount of water rushing through one place.
Giunchigliani said closing the entire course would speed up the reconstruction period to an estimated 18 months to two years maximum. The course closed June 7 and is expected to reopen in 2015.
Planners with the Regional Flood Control District and the county hosted public information meetings on the project Jan. 30 and June 26 to inform residents of possible strategies against future flooding.
While Giunchigliani let people vent during the first meeting “because their homes were destroyed,” one resident found the second meeting much more efficient.
“It was an unstructured meeting,” said resident Martin Dean Dupalo of the meeting on Jan. 30. “A lot of us in the area wanted to know what the current situation was.”
Dupalo was appreciative of the second meeting, which showed a “full-court press” plan to handle the situation at hand.
During the first meeting, residents asked that the Flamingo Wash be added to the Las Vegas Wash Project to avoid future flooding in that area. As a result, what started as a $35 million project is expected to cost $51 million.
A big part of the reconstruction plan is lowering the golf course to prevent future flooding from destroying homes in the area. A redesign of the golf course will include 16 new holes.
Giunchigliani said she hopes to raise enough money for a new clubhouse at the golf course, too. Even those who don’t golf enjoy Desert Rose, she said.
“It’s not just the golfers who use it; it’s a little community gathering place,” Giunchigliani said.
For displaced Desert Rose golfers who still wish to play, adjusted rates will be offered at various golf courses in Henderson and Las Vegas.
Those who previously purchased a Rewards Card can get a prorated refund for any unused portion of the card.
For more information, visit lvwashproject.com/desert-rose-golf-course.
Contact reporter Yvette Cruz at ycruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.
