LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The smelly Rawhide Channel is getting cleaned in the southeast part of town.
Cole Lusby has lived in the area for over a year and says the stench can get overwhelming.
"I’ve lived here for a little over a year and it definitely hasn’t been pleasant. We don’t get much water coming through to flush it out so the stuff that is over there just sits there and rots," Lusby said.
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Lusby says you can really smell the stench here in his backyard, especially in the summer. He says he is relieved that it’s finally getting cleaned out.
"It’s great that it’s cleaned out. It’d be nice if we could get some rainwater to come through here to help with that too. But at least I know that if rain does come through it’s not going to carry trash and sludge down the stream," Lusby said.
13 Action News spoke with public works and they said it’s hard to clean out the channel because when it was built decades ago, there was the assumption that rain would wash it out and there was no need for a ramp to get down. Now, in over a two-decade drought, the contents don’t move much.
"We haven’t had rain like that in at least a couple of years. Trash accumulates, smells accumulate. So the guys are going to have to learn to be more proactive. Go out there on a regular basis and clean those places out," commissioner Tick Segerblom said.
The neighborhood is hopeful the channel will get cleaned out more regularly.
"We can’t have channels like that full of junk and we can’t have them smelling. That’s not good for the neighborhood," Segerblom said.
