Superintendent Rob Roberts declared an emergency due to a broken water main underneath Pahrump Valley High School at the Oct. 6 School Board meeting.

Bob Whimpey, head of maintenance and operations for the Nye County School District, reported to the board that there were leakages in the water main and that the entire system needed to be replaced.

Whimpey told the board that the matter was "not just repair of a broken water line; we need to upgrade the system."

According to Whimpey, the building was built in the 1970s and the plumbing systems need to be upgraded to meet current building codes.

Whimpey said that leaks only caused water to seep through the floor of the building in one spot, and that his workers dug a hole to release the pressure and alleviate the problem.

He also said there was no evidence that the leaks had caused the building to settle.

Whimpey plans to replace all the plumbing lines and install backflow preventors.

He assured the board that none of the work would interfere with school, and that all connection work would be done over the weekend.

The school board accepted a bid for repair work from Pahrump Plumbing and Heating, Inc. for $324,150, the lowest of three offered.