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Id. & Wife. t ?' f T - p ^ j - S & ' Public Service Unit Starts Water Hearing this Morn Ways and means of increasing Las Vegas’ water supply were under discussion late today at city hall as the Nevada public ser­vice commission, started hearings in an effort' to reach a decision as to how the problem can best be solved. With George Allard, chairman of the commission presiding, the hearing' got under way in the i jammed council room with repre sentatives of the Las Vegas Land and Water company on hand to defend a “sh'ow. cause”' action brought by the board of city com­missioners. At, the outset; Allard pointed out that the; hearing was called . at the specific request of the commissioners to force the water company to “showcause” why the local water supply should not be' augmented. City Attorney Howard Cannon launched the discussion with pre­liminary. remarks showing the ur gent; need for additional water and then called W. C.' Anderson city engineer, as: his first witness. Quoting from a report he sub­mitted to City Manager Chet Shelley on September 20, Ander- !spn said studies showed, that the city, between July. 25 and Sep i itember 1 of this year; consumed twelve-and-a-quarter million, gal­lons; of water per day; In response to. Cannon’s ques­tions, Anderson said that, to his knowledge,, the. local water com­pany has made no effort to in-crease storage facilities, He described the two present reservoirs as “far inadequate” to meet the needs of a city the size of Las Vegas. He said the com­bined storage facilities currently fin use hold four-million gallons of water. 1 Then, Anderson added: “Ac­cording to: recognized: engineering standards, a city oftthis size should: have a storage capacity of be­tween 12 and 15; million gallons to meet a n y emergency which’ might arise should the source of: supply be cut off.” At the present rate of con­sumption, Anderson related, storage space o f the two reser­voirs. “probably would be; ex­hausted within a half-a-day if anything suppiy w as. From all indications, the hear­ing will continue throughout; the day and with additional sessions during the week. M l ’#?? ? Water Company Ordered (o Up Vegas Supply The Las Vegas land and wa­ter company today was ordered oy the Nevada public service commission to take immediate steps to remedy the city’s'water shortage at the conclusion of two-day hearings in city hall. The city, represented by City Attorney H o w a r d Cannon, I achieved at least a technical vic­to ry as members of the public | service group agreed to re-open j the hearing if the water com-jpany doesn’t come through with fa solution by January 1 of next {year. ; The company said it would Smake a series of tests on two •of its major wells during peak usage periods b y installing I booster pumps to determine whether both supply and pres­sure can be increased. Under cross examination by Cannon, both Hugh Shamberger and Harry Jamison, of the state engineer’s office, witnesses for the water company, admitted there was a definite lack of wa­ter in Las Vegas considering its population and potential future g ro w th ,........... TTje water company’s agree­ment to institute immediate remedies followed their testi­mony under cross examination. The public • service commis-i sion’s announcement of its de­cision came from Chairman George Allard following a brief recess during which both sides got tog<j| I up I Tec ||® f l l l l l l l l ‘ • - I ' j ^ i o m e ' Jlftliilties ppisfpsP wp-in wSW MHgTare needed to assure both private and com­mercial consumers of adequate pressure d u r i n g peak usage hours. The city engineer said he had been informed by AT Folger, vice president and general man­ager of the water company, that dufing the past nine months the concern has laid 22,700 lineal S feet of new mains-throughout the city. They included 12, eight and I six-inch lines, Anderson said he [was told. j However, he insisted, the addi­tion al mains still: are not suf­ficient to provide an adequate j----------- — jtionsiof K _____________Mpd its lovig-b'eriaiffg 'eTfbrH W W tain a more adequate water supply were also discussed this morn­ing. There were two trains of thought as the Las Vegas land and water company appeared be­fore, the commission to defend charges by Mayor E. W. Cragin and members of the local coun­cil that it has “ done nothing” hi the last 10 years to keep pace with increased population by au­gmenting sources of water sup­plies. On one hand, it was contend­ed that water could be brought into the city from Lake Mead. On the other hand, several wit-ip nesses insisted water conserva­tion would result with the in-: stallation of meters in both com­mercial establishments and pri-vate homes. IC'VN: Howard F. Clark, chief engi- \ Yv neer and general manager of I Las Vegas valley water dis- 1 trict, informed the commission that it would take anywhere from 16 months to two years to pipe Lake Mead water into town, de­pending on the availability of materials due to current war conditions. He said, however, that authori­ties at the Nellis Air base have expressed considerable interest in the project due to the current and anticipated increase in per­sonnel. Clark, in commenting on the possible use of meters, estimat­ed thaty|ra|feV: are adopted it wouid flfEHBjgEi water saving of a p p r s^ a te g g . two or three million day.