Flooding is one of the scariest kinds of weather we can get here in Southern Nevada. Longtimers may recall the death and devastation that unfortunately happened on a regular basis when sudden downpours drenched the valley, incapable of dealing with so much water in a short period of time. As recently as August of 2005 you've seen news video of Las Vegas drivers trying to get through intersections you'd hope they wouldn't dream of sending their kids through (fodder for a whole 'nother future column!). You may have even seen clever billboards showing cars surrounded by floodwater with the words "Look, Mom: No Brains!" and other similar catchy messages.

I'm here today to talk to you about the agency behind those billboards and their mission. The Clark County Regional Flood Control District (www.ccrfcd.org) was established in 1983 to help us all deal with the awesome power of Mother Nature. While there are some who complain that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent building a network of what look like giant cement ponds, there's no way of knowing how many lives have been saved and how much property damage has been prevented as a result of what are technically known as Detention Basins.

The District's General Manager, Gale Fraser, has spoken frequently about the long-term plan to ensure flood safety for all of Clark County. This is a nice way of saying that a variety of issues keep them from simply snapping their fingers and having their Master Construction plan completed overnight (most of it having to do with time and money). And even if—by some miracle—it could happen, there would still be instances of flooding because of an ongoing problem with debris clogging some of the drainage of these Detention Basins. Ideally, they funnel tens of millions of gallons of water through underground piping out to Lake Mead instead of having it roar through our back yards and neighborhoods.

You may have seen parts of a regular TV show about the CCRFCD and their ongoing programs as you click up and down your cable choices. "The Flood Channel" airs frequently on both the City of Las Vegas cable operation, KCLV, on Cox Cable Channel 2 as well as on the Clark County operation, CCTV, on Cox Cable Channel 4. While a lot of us scoff at the admittedly sometimes boring programming on these channels (seen any exciting City Council or County Commission meetings lately?), The Flood Channel presents good information in a well-produced easy-to-understand fashion. There's a lot for grown-ups to learn from the program, but it's also presented in such a way that your kids and grandkids would get something out of it without being frightened.

From a TV meteorologist's standpoint, the CCRFCD offers amazing real-time rain event information that you, too, can see at home on your computer. In addition to the network of Detention Basins, there's also a network of automated rain gauges (and in some cases full weather stations with temp, humidity and wind data) that shows us exactly where it's raining and how much has accumulated. We've used this data in conjunction with our own Early Warning Desert Doppler to show storms down to neighborhood streets, allowing viewers unprecedented access to potential life-saving information on storms as they move across the valley. From the District's home page, click on "Rainfall & Weather" then "Flood Threat Recognition System" then "Rain Maps" and then into the area you're interested in.

I'm a big believer in the CCRFCD and hope you are, too.