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Las Yegas Review-Journal July 18, 1939 iw a t e r s h 6 rt V e g a s S u p p ly R e p o rte d | T o Be th e L o w est In C ity H is to ry I -— m i The water supply in Las Vegas I is the lowest in|ystory; ROsem voirs are empty. Sewers are j running full of waste water. In j case of a serious fire,ino. water J |woUld be available to tight it. 1 These startling facts, presented j jby-A.-.M. Folger of the Las Vegas j 'Lakid and W ater company to the |[ city- board last night led to the passage of a Stringent emergency j ordinance to prohibit the waste j of water in the city of Las Vegas, j The new ordinance, which Will • become effective after next Tues- [ [day, prohibits waste of water, | thru leaking taps and other out­lets, and specifically provides for The use of cooling systems which j are blamed fo r the depletion of jg j the local supply of water. The ? Section referring to the i .cooling systems prohibits “Using i water, from any water system b e -' | longing to any public utility for J the purpose of cooling and refrig- ? erator, refrigerating machine, ice plant, ice machine, cooler, cooling plant, cooling system; air condi- i tioning machine or apparatus, en-j gine or motor, where said water, t e t l e -being, so used, is-permitted | to flow info a sewer or cesspool or onto the" ground, provided, j however, that the use of water, ' for such cooling purposes is not prohibited Where, after being so I used, it is collected, re-cooled, and j re-used,; and is not permitted to flow into a ..sewer, cesspool, or j onto the ground.” Violations of the ordinance constitute' a misdemeanor an d ! are punishable by a fine of n°t i ; to exceed $50 or by imprison-] | ment in the city jail not to exceed 25 days, or both fine and impris- | onment. The full provisions of i the ordinance are printed else­where in the Review-Journal to- I day. | Folger, appearing before the I board last night said, “We are j checking the level of the water in the reservoir every day and I find that the water is running jl thru the tank, but no water ,is !, being stored.” j He stated today that the flow i the wells is up to normal, with ii five and one-half million gallons being prod,peed by the wells and springs at the plant, and that an ; additional one million gallons is (Continued on Page Six) ). r je ft I I |t1 it )V-s it II in ie ffi Hes ibtes f- 1 a H j j e 1st JI|h fV I i Water Short (Continued frmo Page .One) being supplied thru an emergen­cy pump at the railroad yards. “A l l . this w ater is being used or wasted. We have not had a full resefvoir since the fire at the WPA camp on Westside last moiith, and the storage)is drop­ping off until we have nothing in reserve. “If there were a serious fire, the fire department Would be faced with a bad situation. Pres­sure on the lines would be too low to. provide adequate protec­tion. added, “It is the other 20 per cent who need an ordinance to force them to conserve 'watei',’'' jj He pointed out that in case of a water shortage, not only the: “w ater'. wasters” but the “water savers”, as Well, would suffer. „* City,Commissioner Herb Reuse, at the board meeting last night; showed serious concern over the ; water situation;' stressing, the need ' for conservation, particul­arly in case of a bad fire. ---- o— I— ~ m_ “There is a criminal waste of 1 Water. The sewer lines are run- j ning full and are causing a bad j situ a tio n a t The .city . disposal plant The state sanitary engin-eer inspected' the city plant re- A eently and found that the«large J amount ? of w ater, running • thru rj the sewer lines had rendered the J septic tank worthless. If this ] continues, the city will be forced ; to build another septic tank. “The town , has been growing. ; rapidly. Two years ago the wa- .[ ter company developed a 'new \ well ? to provide adequate supply, J but we did not anticipate the use f of water coolers. I understand j the same trouble is being exper- j ienced by other towns. It is the 1 Same as though each house had two lawns instead of one. : “The water produced here is estimated to be enough to sup­ply a town with a 30>000 popula­tion. There is an abnormal use i of water in Las Vegas in the sum­mer season. The use here is an 1 average of 650 gallons per person per day. The national average 11 is only 150 gallons per person.” } Folger stated that the water j company plans to. send out an in- | spector to check on the waste of ' water, and with a stringent or- ! dinance such as the one passed by the board last night, it is be- ft lieved that the situation: can be remedied and a serious situa- ! tion averted. Folger stated that he was of the opinion that the water com-' j pany is getting 80 per cent co- j Operation of the residents and