The Incline Village General Improvement District (IVGID) currently maintains 90 miles of water mains to deliver safe and reliable potable water to all areas of Incline Village and Crystal Bay. Unfortunately, water infrastructure doesn’t last forever and, as a substantial portion of the District was developed using corrosion and leak prone thin wall steel pipe, the District has a robust annual water main replacement program. Since 1982, the District has replaced nearly 38 miles of steel water mains throughout Incline Village and Crystal Bay at a cost of $17-million, not adjusted for inflation. There is approximately six miles of steel water mains (roughly seven percent of the District’s total water main inventory) still slated for replacement.

The criteria for selecting which water mains are replaced each year are threefold: replace those water mains with the most leaks that are the most challenging to repair and do so in streets with aging pavement. IVGID collaborates with the Washoe County Road Department to ensure failing water mains are replaced in advance of any County project to reconstruct, repave, or slurry the streets. We also work closely with the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District to determine areas where fire flows may not be optimum or additional fire hydrants may be necessary. Doing so ensures that any new water main installed is adequately sized to meet both potable and fire flow capacity requirements. This partnership and focus of fire flow capacity allows the District’s water main replacement projects to qualify for grants from the United States Forest Service (USFS) that support fire fighting infrastructure in the Tahoe Basin. To date the District has received over $3.5-million in grant funds from the USFS to support fire flow capacity enhancements in Incline Village and Crystal Bay.

Watermain ReplacementWhen a new water main is installed, the District utilizes modern materials and industry best practices to ensure the greatest possible design life of the new infrastructure. IVGID Engineering performs the design, engineering, bidding, contract administration, and inspection tasks associated with the project. An outside contractor performs the installation work. This summer, the District will be replacing water mains and installing new fire hydrants on North Enterprise Street and Oriole Way in Incline Village as well as on Teresa Court and Wassou Road in Crystal Bay.

The 2016 project scope of work includes:

  • Replacing approximately 1,100 linear feet of undersized and failing six inch steel water main with eight inch ductile iron or C900 PVC pipe and installing one new fire hydrant on North Enterprise Street in Incline Village. 
  • Replacing approximately 220 linear feet of failing six inch steel water main with new six inch ductile iron or C900 PVC pipe and installing one new fire hydrant on Oriole Way in Incline Village.  
  • Replacing approximately 325 linear feet of undersized and failing six inch steel water main with eight inch ductile iron or C900 PVC pipe and installing two new fire hydrants on Teresa Court and Wassou Road in Crystal Bay. 

This work will improve available fire flow capacity in these residential areas of Incline Village and Crystal Bay, will help reduce unaccounted for water loss, and will reduce service interruptions to customers and costly pavement patch penalties that result from water leak repair activities.

Construction will take place between August 1 and October 15, 2016, with normal construction hours Monday - Friday, 7 am - 6 pm, and possibly on Saturdays (if required to expedite the project). Some water shutdowns in the impacted areas will be required during construction. When possible, water outages will be planned during off-peak hours to minimize resident and business impacts. It is the District’s goal to have all water shutdowns not to exceed eight hours and residents will be given 48 hour advanced notice of any water outages. IVGID resources will be available for emergency response if necessary. Specific project details and a final schedule will be determined once a construction contract has been awarded by the District’s Board of Trustees.  

Construction impacts to the project areas may include trench excavation and pavement restoration in the streets, driveways, and parking areas. The project is designed to limit the extents and duration of business impacts and any affected property improvements will be restored to pre-construction conditions. We ask parcel owners to please advise your guests or tenants of the upcoming project and encourage anyone to contact IVGID Engineering at 775-832-1267 with any questions or concerns. IVGID will work to ensure minimal impacts to parking access and normal operations.

Some properties may experience temporary discoloration of the water or trapped air in the pipes once the new water main is put on-line and water service is restored. This is to be expected and is standard during water main replacements. IVGID suggests running all cold water taps to clear affected pipes of any sediment. If any customer still experiences problems after 24 hours, please call IVGID’s 24-hour hotline at 775-832-1203. 

The District would like to thank the residents of Incline Village and Crystal Bay for their continued support of this critical infrastructure replacement program and for their cooperation and patience throughout the construction of the project. IVGID strives to ensure minimal inconvenience to you as it works to reliably deliver life’s most precious resource – water. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this year’s project or the program in general, please contact IVGID’s Engineering Division at 775-832-1267. Stay tuned to our website Construction Updates page for progress on this project.