Letter from William Reinhardt (Los Angeles) to A. E. Stoddard, February 11, 1952

Mr. A. E. Stoddard: Los Angeles - February 11, 1952 (CC - Mr. P. J. Lynch Mr. W. R Rouse Mr. W. H. Hulsizer Mr. A. C. Ritter Mr. E. E. Bennett Referring to your letter of February 4th. file 199. addressed to My. Lynch, with reference to the advisability the railroad developing its own water supply at Las Vegas if the present joint water facilities of Union Pacific Railroad Company and Las Vegas Land and Water Company are disposed of: This matter has been under consideration for some time, both as to the question of whether an independent water supply for the Operating Department would be necessary, and also as to the best procedure for taking care of this supply and the cost thereof. I attach copy of a brief outline of this situation, which Mr. Maag prepared at my request. This outline indicates the present shop well apparently has ample capacity to take care of the railroad's own requirements in the shop and station area. with enough of a margin to adequately handle peak requirements: particularly so if some elevated storage were provided to take care of not only the normal peak requirements tut also to provide a volume of water which would be used in case of fire or other emergencies. After considering this matter for some time, It would seem to me that the situation could be best handled in the following manner: Attempt to obtain from the State Engineer's office a transfer of 1 cu.ft. per second of the present appropriation, which the railroad holds on Well No. 1 in the water field. This is more than the present well's capacity, but It is my feeling that should the present well be replaced due to failure of casing on account of It's present age, it is Just possible that a better well would he obtained and we might find it beneficial to have the larger appropriation. Arrange for all of the present commercial connections, which are being supplied by the railroad company, to be connected and serviced by the District If they acquire the LVL&wCo. system or by the LVLAWCo. system if the sale is not completed. Likewise, have P.F.E. and the railroad roominghouse connected to the Utility system because of their location not being readily accessible to the railroad's retained pipelines. That the Operating Department should give consideration to the advisability of constructing At least 200,000 gallons of elevated storage. Retain a metered connection to the Utility system, which would be used as a means Of obtaining additional water when and if necessary. Wm. Reinhardt