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V LAS VEGAS REVI EW JOURNAL PU 8 L 1 s HE D; fli j n s 1949 _ Get More Water for Las Vegas by 1950 Is Commission Order to Water Company Here The Las Vegas Land and Water Company.should be required to, “do everything in its power to-correct the shortage situation before another summer season arrives,” Public Service Commissioner; Charles V. William? declares in bis'report on the la c k of sufficient water in certain sections of Las Vegas this summer. Williams recommends: 1. —Increased distribution fa­cilities to the area south of Charleston so that equal pres- ; sure can be maintained under ! all conditions: 2. — Additional mains or larger mains for the business district so as to provide a larger head , of water and increase static | pressure. 3. — Elimination of all dead­end mains. The report says nothing about j additional source of supply ex­cept in referring to the., efforts j of the directors of Las Vegas gal­ley Water District in thi?ji-4irec-tion. Neither does it referto ^hes additional storage which Syater company officials here state has; been recommended to the home I office. | : , Immediately upon receipt of Williams’ report, Chairman Al­lard dispatched a demand to Al; j Folger, general manager of the: ' company at Las Vegas, asking “for a statement of the company’s i intentions to correct the present j situation and its proposals for im- ; proving the system before the j 1950 peak season.” i “We have informed Mr. Fol-ger,” Allard says, “that if their proposal is deemed inadequate, we would set the matter down for formal hearing to be held in! Las Vegas some time during the; next two months.” Williams’ complete report fol­lows: “During the extremely hot weather proceeding July 19th in1 Las Vegas, the use of water sup-j plied by the Las Vegas Land and; Water Co. reached an all-time: high. Production at the rate of 16,500,000 gallons per day or 700 gallons per day per person was. notAsufficient to equal the con,-; sumption. i “The reserve held in two reser­voirs with four miUion gallons capacity was gradually depleted.; • Four wells in the first artesian Izone around- 400 feet in depth jwere being pumped to capacity. ; * (Eight wfells in the second artesian S ] zone at about .800 feet or more, . i as well as the two natural springs j were contributing to the system j at full flow. Total .16,500,000 gal-; I Ions per day. ?- . ..... ....................................................... M. \ J:7§ -M* W % .-? “Booster pumps in the supply | lines were being operated by the' water company in an attempt to maintain equal pressure through­out the system. “The high point in the system is; in the area south of Charleston ; avenue in 4he Huntridge Addi­tion. The mains supplying this area also extend east to the lowest point on the system toward the intersection of Charleston avenue and Boulder highway. “As the water supply dwindled, the, unusual usd of water in this low point reduced pressure in the Huntridge area to such an ex­tent that water would not flow at a number of the homes on the; higher ground- At the same time,.! water pressure failed near Fifth-and Fremont streets notably on the upper floors in the El Cortez; hotel and in Sears-Roebuck store.- “On July 19th Mayor Cragin proclaimed an emergency and prohibited the use of water on lawns between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. Next day, on Jqly :20th, pressure in the mgins during, .the day increased to 46 lbs. to ; the square inch, which is normal winter pressure. Storage in the reservoirs1 increased to full ca­pacity. During the peak evenings (5 to 9 p.m.) no complaints were received, but next morning July 21st Mr.'E. P. Hobart of 15th and Stewart streets-“advised that pres­sure had been low. around 8 p.m. “Mr. Folger of the water com­pany expects to* relieve the situ­ation near Mr.5-Hobart!s home at once by installing an additional cross main or larger main. Pres­sure- reducing valves have beeni; ordered for installation on east | Charleston to reduce pressure in the low spot to normal so as to maintain pressure in Huntridge. Water company plans to drill two wells into second artesian zone before the 1950 peak season. Consumption of water for the past three years shows that the increase in use far surpasses the increase in population. The 1947 peak was about 13 million gallons daily, 1948 about 14 million,. 1949 16% million. This shows an all-time high in 1949 both as to total and as to per capita use. Phoenix, Arizona, with comparable tem­perature, but on meters, is 148 gallons per day per person.) “Two • city patrolmen, paid by the water company, have been unable to reduce the waste of j water to any great extent al- ! though water may be seen run­ning down gutters a t' various places in the city, any summer day. ; “The Las Vegas city adminis­tration complains that the sewage disposal plants are being/flooded by excessive use of water during the summer months. “The recently l formed water (district has. employed a firm of Chicago engineers t o . conduct a J ‘feasibility’ survey with a view to ] securing water from Lake Mead for the city of Las Vegas. This report is expected by Board Mem­ber Miller within the next 30 days. If the plan is considered feasible the board expects to ac­quire the distribution system of the water company and proceed j so as to have the system operating by summer of 1950. “Compalints to the mayor con- ! ceming fire hazard because of [water shortage’ are considered unfounded by Fire Chief Case. The heavy-duty pumpers are capable pf drawing water from the mains even though -water is; withdrawn from all users in the; area pumped from. “I believe that- under the pres­ent plan of conservation during the day for irrigation use, the situation will be relieved through -the -hottest weather. I believe this commission does everything in their power to correct the situa­tion before another summer I season arrives. I “The water company should be required to increase distribution (facilities to the area south of Charleston so that equal pressure can be maintained under all con­ditions. Additional mains or larg-ler mains should be laid to give the business area a larger head l of water and to increase the static [pressure. All dead-end mains should be eliminated. The water company should be informed as early as possible as to the results [of the water district engineer’s report.” - A#