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Las Vegas, Nevada, MNoovr.n in4,g T1r9i44b.une, "M"' ^.TM? ‘ " M X ......X Vegas Water Crisis Looms Conservation Urged by Firm At Local Parley By MATTIE GIASSON The present water supply in Las Vegas is sufficient for the needs of a^eoifL munity with§^o^fulation of 25,00(hprfsons; the pressure and flrfw of wells is gradually be­ing reduced; conservation pro­gram' started in the past year has resulted in the saving of from two to three million gallons daily/ and a possibility exists that we are facing a critical shortage of water. These were points brought out at a meeting yesterday of Union Pacific railroad representatives, state, county and city officials, and interested water users in this area. The gathering was called by the Las Vegas chamber of com­merce, and Maxwell Kelch, pres­ident, presided. Representatives of the railroad and water company were W. H. Guild, executive assistant to the president; E. E. Bennett, general solicitor; Frank Strong, manager of industrial development; George Fish, superintendent; Bob Den­ton, western manager; Walter Bracken, Vice president of ?; the Las Vegas Land and J Water com­pany; A1 Folger,' general manager of the water company, and Leo McNamee, Union Pacific attorney for Nevada. Alfred Merritt Smith, state en­gineer, and his assistant, Hugh Shamburger, spoke for the state of Nevada. Kelch, reviewing the purposes of the meeting, explained that an adequate supply of water is abso­lutely fundamental for the de­velopment of the community. He called upon Frank Strong of the Union Pacific railroad to present that company’s stand with regard to proposed development, if any, of the existing water supply. Strong replied that surveys strongly indicate a limited source of underground water supply, and that if water were piped in from Boulder reservoir it would be (Please turn to page 4) (Continued from ‘Page 1) heavily mineralized and of inferior quality for all-around use to the present water supply. In view of the difficulty of arriving at an accurate appraisal of artesian re­sources and the time required in the study, he stated; “The problem we are all con­fronted with is the .conservation and protection of your domestic and industrial water-supply. For your own best interest every ef­fort should be'made to bring about enactment and enforcement of ordinances and statutes to stop waste of water to protect the future of the area.” (Editor’s note: More about Las Vegas water tomorrow.) t R Vf I