upr000027 13

Water Conservation, Meters Urged A water conservation program, with the ultimate installation of meters in Las Vegas to protect the underground supply of water In the area, was recommended! yesterday at the water meeting which was held at El Rancho Ve­gas and which drew a crowd of nearly 100 persons. State, city, county and Union Pacific officials gathered with members of the chamber of commerce to discuss the ques­tion of water in this valley, and after a three hour round table discussion, several in­teresting angles were devel­oped. The proposal to install meters for the conservation of water was forthcoming from State En­gineer A. M. Smith, who gave a comprehensive picture of the water supply in the valley and expressed growing concern about the drop in the water level. Smith declared that conversa­tion must be practiced by every water user in the valley and, during the discussion which fol­lowed his opening statement, showed that the water company supplied less than 50 per cent of the water which was developed in the entire Las Vegas valley. He urged that meters' be installed on every water outlet in the val­ley and said that if this goal,j is accomplished the water supply will be protected and industry can be invited here with surety. Smith declared that it was ab­solutely necessary to have water from Lake Mead as standby and pointed out that it would be neither as cheap nor as good as the water now being used. He said that the residents of the valley were approaching the limit of underground water and that when this limit is reached the water rights of all concerned will be periled. ‘‘Drastic supervision and cur­tailment of waste must be prac­ticed in this area,” Smith said, “and if you are to build a com­munity of great size here you must get more water.” He suggested that the state should have the priority in the securing of the BMI plant water system, when, as and if it is available, and that if such a pre- gram is followed the water should be supplied to the users at cost plus operation and main­tenance costs and amortization. He pointed out that this water would not be cheap and urged that, because of this factor, ‘the present water supply should be conserved. He again stressed the 'fact that the Lake Mead water is needed as standby. As regards the restriction of drilling in the valley, Smith said that the state engineer's office was interested mainly in protecting the key spots of the - supply so there would be no heavy draft on these points. He said his office was not pro­tecting the water company and that he could assure the resi­dents that development of water here would not be re­stricted until “we know that the supply is being drained by the water whieh is being taken out of the ground.” He concluded by saying that “we have had your interests at heart and'we are doing the best we can.” He pointed out that no study of the underground water had been made prior to the time he assumed office. Hugh Shamberger, assistant state engineer, reported that the office had received excellent co­operation from most people in the valley, but what was neces­sary was the co-operation of ev­ery water user in the area. He pointed out that the under­ground water belonged to the public at large for beneficial use, and when a permit to drill a well was issued, the permitee is given only the use of the water and does not own it. He traced the work done by the state engineer’s office and said that the records show the pressure of the wells is decreas­ing, not rapidly but steadily. He reported that through the con­servation campaign initiated by the state engineer’s office be­tween two and a half and three million gallons of water per day has been saved. He declared this must be a continuous program to be of any value. He said that within the next year the engineer’s office would have adequate knowledge of the underground water supply so that a program of develop­ment could be planned and the future policies regarding drilling of wells set up. Shamberger stated that the engineer’s office had not set up an iron clad policy of no more drilling, but reiterated the statement made by Smith that the key points must be protected. He said that action regarding the issuance of drill­ing permits would be slow and that with the understanding and co-operation of the resi­dents of this section, more could be accomplished. He closed by saying that the people of this valley must guard against full depletion of the basin, because the history of other artefcian areas showed that, once the water is lowered below the “cushion” area the basin be­comes depleted and will never come back. In answer to President Max Kelch’s. query regarding how large a population could survive in this area on the present water supply, Shamberger reported that with the utmost conserva­tion, a population of the present size could exist indefinitely. “We have reached the max­imum population for the water supply upon the basis of what facts are now known. Things may change with the studies be­ing made now, but there can be no promise of that,” Shamberger said. Frank Strong, Union Pacific representative at the meeting, in answer to a question of whether the Union Pacific had sought new sources of water for the supply of the Las Vegas valley, reported that there had been no plans developed as yet and then explained that the Las Ve­gas Land and Water company had not considered the BMI water system because of the suspicion with which a corpor­ation would be looked upon by the government if approaches were made to the government regarding purchase of this sys­tem.® “We do not desire to avoid responsibility,”|Strong said, “but we believe the plan to secure Lake Mead water for this area is a state problem. We have no objection to having water sup­plied by private or public agen­cies in this area, in fact we will encourage it,” he said. A. C. Grant asked if there would be any’possibility of forming a water district in the area for the purpose of de­veloping new sources of water, and Smith declared that some investigation - along this line had b&m made and that a water district probably would be necessary for such a pro- i ject. " In answer to R. B .Griffith’s I question regarding the policy of I the state engineer’s office well I drilling permits, Shamberger said that these rights would be taken by the priority of appli­cation, but there was no thought Of stopping the drilling of wells. He warned against over-develop­ment of water in the area “be-, cause we may destroy what we have how.” Leo A. McNamee declared that the situation was not entirely pessimistic but that the water company felt that drastic con­servation was necessary to as­sure plenty of water for the pres­ent population. He pointed out the tremendous increase in the use of water in the past two years citing that the consump­tion in July and August of 1944 jumped three million gallons per day over that consumed during the same months in-1943. He said that the protests against the drilling of wells in the valley had been filed to make the residents of this area conservation conscious and that “from the looks of this meeting today, the protest brought the desired results.” He said that as long as the community did not exceed 25,- 000 in population there was ample water, and that this water could supply ordinary industry as well. The cushion, he said, has not been reached as yet. F. O. Case reported that the BMI system would not be avail­able for some time because the chlorine and caustic portions of the plant would continue to run and would use the water being brought in from Lake Mead. Strong declared that the Union 3 Pacific railroad probably would have no objections to relinquish­ing the present water system in Las Vegas if a reliable agency desired to take it over and pay a fair price for the equipment. However, this problem would have to be referred to the ex- I ecutives of the company. The meeting was closed on the J recurring note that meters in the city of Las Vegas would aid tremendously in conserving water in the area, and that new sources of supplies should be developed. II -4- L V ? Rgvhem/