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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL 9/25/49 _ % ' C l e a r Wa y For N e w W D i s t r i c t to B u y Sysl€ 7n \ City Dads Lend Support to Plan Assuring Supply One of the greatest obstacles barring: the way toward a sup­plemental water supply for the Las Vegas valley was hurdled late Friday when the city com­missioners and directors of the newly-formed water district a-greed to cooperate in an effort to relieve what they described as “ an extremely acute situa­tion.’ ^ fg With one exception, the city heads went on record favoring immediate negotiations by the water district directors to pur­chase the Las Vegas Land and Water company. At the conclu­sion of a two-hour joint session, Thomas A. Campbell, spokes­man for the water district board, announced that. his group will instigate purchase of the water company at the “ earliest pos­sible. moment.” Campbell said he considered it “ essential” that the water dis­trict take over the local utility if proposed plans to bring i n additional water from L a k e Mead for irrigation and domes­tic purposes are to be realized. During the informal- round­table discussion, Mayor E. W. Cragin stated that the commis­sioners were reluctant .to enter the “ water business” and said he felt .the, water district was, ‘jin a fa,r’ better, position” t o handle the entire situation. He was joined by Commission­ers William Peecole, Wendell | Bunker, and Reed Whipple. Com- | missioner Robert Moore i n-dicated he was not in accord with their views. Mayor Cragin told the Water district directors that" the city council “ has never considered purchase of the water company” beyond informal comments ex­pressed at a recent meeting. “ We have enough headaches as it is,” the mayor declared, “ and our only thought in even discussing the matter was to raise extra revenue to m e e t current municipal obligation.” Friday’s conference .was called at the request of the water dis­trict directors in an effort t o clarify their relationship with city fathers regarding negotia­tions with the local land and I water company. IS “ We have no desire to com­pete with the city for purchase of the; company—all we want is cooperation for the good of all concerned,” Campbell stated. Mayor Cragin, at Campbell’s suggestion, named Commission­ers Peccole and Bunker as a committee to represent the city company. When and if the water com­pany come under control of the district directors, it was pointed out, the entire operation will eventually become an operation “ owned by the citizens of Las (Continued On Page 2) (City Dads (Continuer; From Page 1) Vegas.” The water district, Campbell explained, is a non­profit organization established by a vote of the people to bring m. additional water from every possible source. If all runs smoothly and pipe­lines from Lake Mead are. in­stalled, the city’s water supply should be increased by between eight and ten million gallons daily, the commissioners were told. For the past several months a survey of underground and other possible water facilities. have been under study by the Chicago, Illinois, engineering firm of Greely and Hanson. A final report is expected to be released in the near future, the water district officials said. The water district board i s operating under an appropria­tion of $10,000, but Campbell said that “ except for $5,000 for a feasible report from the en­gineering company, our expen­ses have been nil.” To bring an adequate supple­mental supply of water into Las Vegas and environs will c o s t several million dollars,” it was brought out at the j o i n t meeting. To this estimate, Spen­cer Butterfield, treasurer of the water district, commented: “ To survive during the years to come, we’ve got to h a v e water regardless of the jst.”