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STATEMENT TO -BE READ AT MEETING- WITH BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF LAS VEGAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NOVEMBER 3rd, 194-4 -o- ? We are here in response to your invitation to sit in on a round-table discussion of the problems of the water situation in the Las Vegas Valley Artesian Belt, in which Belt your City is located. The future growth of this community is of mutual inter­est to all of us, and these problems must be worked out together. I have read the questionnaire which accompanied your letter, but do not initially propose to separately answer the questions contained therein. I will present the general situation as we view it, after which we will be glad to answer any questions you may care to ask. First, I wish to state that the protest filed by the Las Vegas Land and Water Company, in its capacity as a public utility serving the City of Las Vegas, against the drilling of certain wells was not made with any selfish motive on the part of the Water Co., nor was it made with the idea of forever prohibiting the drilling of additional wells in the Las Vegas Valley. From our records, we feel that we are confronted with a serious problem affecting the citizens of your community, and that the matter should be submitted to the judgment of the State authorities and the public through the medium of a public hearing, which we are advised will be held by the State Engineer at an early date. At that hearing we propose to submit, briefly, the data we have, which we feel indicates the necessity for immediate steps directed toward the strict enforcement of rigid conservation measures for the pro­tection of the great asset to your community of the finest water in the State of Nevada, and perhaps any other State in the Union. (1)