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Las Vegas?Nevada REVIEW- JOURNAL August 20,194? Water District -??, -A- meeting , of major • importance to all southern Nevada,^vas held’ last night at the chamber oficomjjierce office at which dis­cussion was had looking jtowafcd the aug­mentation "of the "water supply in the-Vegas valley from th§ (Colorado river water avail­able at the Basic Magfiesium plant. There is no^question but that the matter of more watef is one of the fundamental problems of this section 4f „it is to grow into a thriving metropolis1. We have been blessed, in the past, with an excellent flow of artesian water and, with that available flow, have built a community here which ranks second in population in the state of Nevada. However, if we are to expand be­yond our present boundaries, there is a def­inite need for more water. ! Surveys by underground water experts indicate that our water table is shrinking rapidly as the years go by. Whereas, sev­eral years ago a driller might hit a flowing well at a shallow depth, now it is necessary to go down deeper and, when water is ob­tained, the artesian flow is not nearly so powerful as it was a few years ago. Las Vegas has one of the greatest per capita consumptions of water of any com­munity in the United States, despite the fact that the citizens are living in what is. char­acterized as an arid section., With the growth of the population here*; there has been a corresponding drain bn-the water supply and, while the danger of shortages is not imme­diate, unless some definite steps are taken in the near future, we may find ourselves drastically curtailed in our use of water. Progressive . pitizens, members of the chamber of commerce- and other vitally in­terested residents, have come up with a plan whereby a wateh district- could > be formed in the valley and, through,.the .issuance of revenue bonds, Oould construct a pipeline from the present Basic plant line into the Vegas valley. ~"It Is~ this program which was discussed ! last night at the meeting held at the chamber of commerce office. It is a plan by which j the future growth of Las Vegas can be as- j sured, because it will Insure water for a com- | munity of most any? size. Without water Las Vegas would be consigned to a perpetual small town category, with no hope of ex- | pansion. The greatest evidence of what water I means to a community.is the situation which existed in Los Angeles many years ago. I The city was faced 'with nearly the same j problem as is Las Vegas today. Forward- j looking citizens, instead of sitting around I moaning about the lack of water, decided -to do something about it and brought the water into the community' from Owens valley, hundreds of miles from the city. As a re- 1 suit, with a water, supply assured, Los An- 9 geles now has grow to the largest city in the ! state of California and soon will be among ! the ranking pommunities of the world. In Las Vegas we. are .fortunate* to have the wfeter right at our back door; tA pipe- line of not more than 15 miles will bring j Lake Mead water into our community and | assure the citizens plenty of water for all i time to come. . . . * We, as progressive residents, of the, most j progressive city in the state, cannot afford I to miss the opportunity which presents it­self. The water . district must be formed and water brought into the city to augment i our current artesian supply. The task will i not be as large as. it had seemed a couple i of .years ago, for, with the Lasiv^ egas army j air field being re-activated, the army will | be interested in a sufficient water supply I and will aid iii whatever mapne:f;poss.ible in | bringing water from the Basie-plant into J the valley. That assistance' may he the very i prod we need to get the; taskhone. It can­not be delayed. It must be completed. Being oh the level helps yotf to rise in your i own estimation. - sj. 1|P -