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Num ber o f A ve ra ge Revenue Y e ar Consumers per Customer 1 9 4 9 - ^ j ^ B H M k i L . . ................................ 7,834 25.50 1950 .............. 8,331 26.60 1951 ...........:__ ______ ........................................................... 9,101 28.50 1952........v,:^£j^ p k ^^...............;..,^................. 9,765 33.00 1953....... .............................................................11,632 35.30 The M ontgomery report proposes increasing w ater charges a flat 134%. The typical bill will be $6.25 per month, or $75 per year. In view of the average annual revenue per custom er reported by M ontgomery of $80 in San Diego, $78 in San Francisco and $78 in Beverly Hills, a $75 rate for a desert area does not appear unreasonable. It is estimated that the D istrict will take over approximately 12,800 services on or about May 1, 1954. The revenue for the eight months May 1 to December 31, 1954, is estimated to be $640,000. Revenues for subsequent years are estimated from the populations and num ber of services (at 3.2 persons per service) tabulated on page 15. Charges begin at $75 per year per service; estimated reductions in subsequent years would perm it a $50 annual charge by 1978. INSTALLATION OF W ATER METERS It is recommended in the Greeley & Hansen, Montgomery, and Black & V eatch engineering reports that the Las Vegas Valley W ater D istrict install meters on its service connections. Funds are available for this purpose in the M ontgomery cost estimate under the heading “Miscellaneous additional improvements to distribution system ”. If meters were to be installed, the M ontgomery report recommends the following rate structure, as one which would be workable and which would produce sufficient revenues to meet the anticipated costs of operating expendi­tures, debt service, reserve for contingencies and additions and extensions to the system : Minimum monthly charge, ys" m eter........................................ $3.00 (Allowance, 5,000 gallons) 5.000 to 25,000 gallons per m onth.........................................................30 per 1,000 gallons 25.000 to 250,000 gallons per m onth.............. ......................................22 per 1,000 gallons Over 250,000 gallons per m onth.L^^lr....:...,,:..................................18 per 1,000 gallons W ith respect to the installation of w ater meters by the District, attention is called to Section 6112, Nevada Compiled Laws (being a portion of the Public Service Commission A ct of the State of Nevada), which provides in p art as follows: “The [public service] commission may, when necessary, ascertain and prescribe for each kind of public utility adequate, convenient and serviceable standards for the m easurem ent of quality, pressure, voltage or other conditions pertaining to the supply of the product or service rendered by any public utility, and prescribe reasonable regulations for the examination and testing of such products or service and for the m easurem ent thereof. Any consumer, user or party served may have the quality or quantity of the product or the character of any service rendered by any public utility tested upon the paym ent of fees fixed by the commission, which fees, however, shall be paid by the public utility and repaid to the complaining party if the quality or quantity of the product or the character of the service be found by the commission defective or insufficient in a degree to justify the demand for testing; or the commission may apportion the fees between the parties as justice may require; provided, that it shall be unlawful for any public utility, for any purpose or object whatever, in any city or town containing more than four thousand five hundred inhabitants, to install, operate or use, within such city or town, any mechanical water meter, or similar mechanical device, to measure the quantity of water delivered to water users; provided further, that nothing in the immediate foregoing proviso shall apply to cities and towns owning and operating municipal water works.” (Em phasis added.) The territory of the City of Las Vegas is the only portion of the D istrict affected by the foregoing statute. T he other two cities (N orth Las Vegas and Henderson) have municipally owned and operated w ater systems. Unincorporated territory is not subject to the provisions of the statute. . . . . . . 21 Section 6112 may not be applicable to the W ater District, in view of the following provisions of the D istrict A c t: Section 1 and subparagraph 6 thereof contain in p art the following: “A w ater district may be created in the Las Vegas valley, as hereinafter provided for, for the following objects and purposes: . . . to conserve and reclaim w ater for present and future use within the district; to appropriate and acquire w ater and w ater rights and import w ater into the district and to conserve the same within the district, for any useful purpose of the district. . . . ” Section 19 provides in part as follows: “This act shall in itself constitute complete authority for the doing of the things herein authorized to be done. The provisions of no other law, either general or local, except as provided in this act, shall apply to doing of the things herein authorized to be done, and no board, agency, bureau or official, other than the governing body of the district .and the public serv ic e' Commission of-the' -St-a-te of N evada shall have any authority or jurisdiction over the doing of any of the acts herein authorized to be done nor shall any proceedings, nor publication notice of election be required for the doing of such acts except as herein specifically required.” Chapter 307, Nevada Statutes, 1951, amended Section 19 by deleting the words “and the public service commission of the State of Nevada” shown above by strike-out type. The Board of Directors of the D istrict believes th at flat rates result in an uncontrollable waste of w ater and th at substantial quantities can be saved by the installation of w ater meters. T he Board at this tim e expects to install meters, and if litigation is instituted to prevent meter installation, the D istrict will assert and defend its right to provide metered w ater service. If a court holds th at the D istrict is w ithout power to install meters within the City of Las Vegas, then it is the intention of the Board of Directors to seek the necessary legislation to authorize the D istrict to install meters therein. Although the D istrict’s policy is to provide for the installation of meters, in the interests of conservatism all projections of revenues and w ater consumption in this Statem ent have been made on a flat-rate basis. The proposed flat rates are somewhat lower than the comparable m etered rates recommended by the Engineers and therefore result in lower projected revenues. The installation of w ater m eters will undoubtedly result in a reduction of w ater consumption, thereby prolonging the expected life of w ater supplies beyond the dates anticipated in flat-rate projections. Although m eter installation will tend to increase operating costs, this additional cost will be offset to a large extent by a reduction in the cost of w ater production. An additional reason for using flat-rate projections has been to make the projected D istrict data comparable to the past data of the Las Vegas Land and W ater Company, all of which has been based upon flat rates. Water Rights: Pursuant to contract, the D istrict will acquire from the Las Vegas Land and W ater Company, among other properties, w ater rights to an aggregate of 23.37 c.f.s. (16,919 acre feet) of water annually from the underground w aters of the Las Vegas Valley. In addition to its underground rights, the D istrict has certain additional rights to waters of the Colorado River. The State of Nevada by contract w ith the United States is entitled to annual delivery of 300,000 acre feet of w ater from the Colorado River. The D istrict by agreement w ith the State is entitled to annual delivery of 43,000 acre feet from the 300,000 acre feet allotted to the State. The State Engineer of Nevada has granted the D istrict a perm it to annually appropriate for municipal purposes 59 c.f.s. (43,000 acre feet) of Colorado River w ater from storage in Lake Mead. T he D istrict has until January 24, 1962, in which to apply the appropriated w ater to beneficial use and to the extent it is so beneficially used it will ripen into a vested w ater right for that quantity. An Appendix to this Official Statem ent contains the Opinion of Leo A. McNamee of the law firm of McNamee & McNamee, Las Vegas, Nevada, concerning the w ater rights owned or to be acquired by the D istrict. 22