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Inquiring Reporter Now that i%e parking meters have been in operation for some time, w hat is your opinion of Of course it was not in Uncle j them? Sam’s plans at the time, since he was engaged in winning his war with the Axis* but once that goal was reached, Sam didn’t much care what became of the tools of victory. As had happened to war plants in countless locations throughout the country, Basic Magnesium—and the water fa­cilities— were turned over to Ne­vada at a cost favorable to a lim­ited state budget. Once., more the water district plans were taken from the moth­balls, and this time with some hope of success for efforts of those who had worked so long toward realization of the project. However, the plan had changed from its original conception of merely an agricultural program. With the great increase in pop­ulation, and a decided interest in the area for industrial develop­ment, it became vital to consider usage of lake water for three prime purposes: (1) to augment the domestic water supply; (2) for industrial use, and (3) for ag­riculture. With these potential benefits awaiting fruition of the plan, the state legislature readily passed the Baker bill, introduced by State Senator C. D. Baker, one of the earliest civic promoters of lake water for Vegas valley. The bill was drawn up by Baker only after'a series of stu-capable of filling the needs of a limited population, and no more. This attitude prevailed for the first 25 years of the city’s exist­ence, during which period Las Vegas grew, but grew slowly,: and progressed at even a slower pace. Then a great- thing came to pass which sparked the gleam in many an old timer’s eye; the construction of Boulder dam was authorized a n d civic-minded leaders of the Community imme­diately leveled their sights on the water which would one day back up behind the great Colo­rado river barrier. In the early 1930s, with the federal government expending almost limitless funds on hiake-work projects and reclamation, the Las Vegas chamber of com­merce and Other interested par­ties prevailed upon Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes to authorize a survey of-the cost of pumping lake water into a high-level canal, from whence it might be used to irrigate the val­ley -below. On the basis of a reclamation project alone, the survey was made, but with an estimated 12,- 000 acres to be benefited, the cost was astronomical in com­parison with the planned pro­ductivity of the land, even at rock-bottom depression values. A second survey was under- AS OUR STATE ENGINEER SEES IT ANGUS HICKS, trainvdispatch er — ‘T think they are serv- H ihg the purpose Jpr- 1 on F r e m o n t * - , 9 street, but I I m 'w don’t believe Wm f they should b e» I on . the sid e s I |i streets. „ There ?»< jg dosen’t seem toJBL I be e n o u g h V \ , business estab- tf&tr »'o lishments the side streets to justify them. STATE OF NEVADA Office of the State Engineer Carson City, Nevada create fof themselves a provi­dential water district. Only one thing makes it pos­sible to form- such a district; a blessing which would bloom any desert area in the world possess­ing it—the water of Lake Mead. There for the taking are more tnan 9ft billion gallons of water annually, representing the state’s-unused allocation. | ; i Ever since the parched desert acres of the valley were noted by weary travelers passing through in the last century, the few hardy pioneers who settled here knew that no extensive farming, or industrial development was possible from the artesian water supply. This source of water has been responsible for the growth of Las Vegas and vicinity as it exists today. Engineers who have surveyed the water table report that without additional water, expansion in the valley has reached its peak. In the. early days of the 20th century when Las Vegas was first settled as a railroad town, old timers gave little thought to­ward its development into any­thing more, since they knew that the artesian water supply was May 6, 1946 A. C. Grant; Chairman Industrial Development Committee lias Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Las Vegas, Nevada, Dear Mr. Grant: Due to the rapid-development of industry within the Las Vegas valley, a crisis is rapidly approaching relative to the supply of un­derground water fro^r which source water is furnished to the city of Las Vegas and surrounding areas. To.be more specific, the an­nual amount of water now being taken from the underground sup­ply is nearly equal to the annual recharge. I f water were taken from the underground source in an amount equal to the permitted rights now existing, the draft would exceed the recharge; For the past two years this office, in cooperation with the U. S, Geological Survey, has. been carrying on an extensive study on the underground waters in that area and we believe that the study will be completed by this fall. HoWever, we are able at this time to estimate with reasonable accuracy the normal recharge, and the condition is alarming. We feel that at the moment, the; major limiting factor to the growth and prosperity of that area is the water supply. If the growth depends upon the water from-the underground supply, then the Las Vegas valley is nearing its full development. Section 10 of the 1939 law relating to underground water (Chap. ,178 Stats, 1939);,provides that when the state engineer determines (that the waters from an underground source are fully appropriated, ijthen no further permits shall be issued. Therefore, unless some ^positive action is taken by the people there to supplement the un­derground waters with waters from another source, it will soon (become mandatory fof the state engineer to curtail the issuance of (further permits, ? - We realize that such action on our part Will have most disas­trous effectkpn the welfare of the Las Vegas valley, as naturally no new industries, hotels or other large users of water would con­sider" entering an area where there is an inadequate supply of w ater/. ? : .. The matter of taking such a decisive step is approached with gfeat reluctance on our part, and only in order to- save and protect present water rights and property. We have great faith in the ability and desire of the people there to rapidly develop and make the most of the great possibilities of the Las Vegas valley, and believe that they will take immediate measures to secure an additional supply of water.' •' ’ a We believe if the property owners in Las Vegas valley can be organized into a municipal entity, which might be designated as the Las Vegas Valley Water Improvement District, it would con­stitute a political body able to cope with the problem of bringing in supplemental water from Mead Lake. If this is done soon, per­haps the indicated necessity of curtailing further permits to use of groundwater may be delayed. In any event, limiting further draft on the underground supply, when it eventually becomes absolutely necessary, would , not . then -result in retarding the growth of that wonderful fegion.'Steps for the formation of such a water use im­provement district must of necessity be taken immediately. Ions ?of water in. Lake Mead, which-1 might be theirs for the taking, go unused by any Nevada agenlr or community because it Was last out of reach. Askthe tourist boom in south­ern Nevada followed completion of thlikm, Las,'Vegas grew,enor­mously. Periodically, officials of the cfty, county and the chamber of commerce pored over the planspor making use of lake, wa­ter, Showing that the day was near 'at hah®'When the artesian supply would ho longer be suffi­cient. ® Thep came the war, and more fiopulttion and industry for the Las Vegas area. However, the biggest industrial development did ng»t attempt to rely on an un- CHARLES M. TRAVIS, retail ? ihg meters are amount charged each driver is insignificant compared to the convenience they receive from pipeline and pumping facilities to Lake Mead, unwittingly stand­ing the expense of the greatest singl|fbarrier to community use of thltlake water. new county airport, ana nortn to North Las Vegas and the air corps base. Owners of artesian wells in the valley are anxiously awaiting completion of the project, since it will protect their underground supply from further drains by large commercial users. .FRANK CROOKSTON, drug-there is plenty o f p a r k i n g ^ r ^ V rU space uptown now whereas®?,, ? J N the parking fa- | * mum in th e® . JIm days before the®B T / jjm definite advan-|^^*^"'' j , tage to busi- 'j ness establishments as some peo­ple have suggested. As soon as people get used to them, I don’t think there will be any more complaints. I think they result iri a faster business turnover. Developers of the water dis­trict have also scouted the possi­bility of purchasing the Las Ve- 'f&s Land and Water company, ijpw owned by the Union Pa­cific railroad. | | | “The Union Pacific railroad "and the Las Vegas Land and Wa­ter company were pioneers in the development of this area,” George F. Ashby, U. P. president, has declared. ‘‘They are vitally -interested in the future here, and Wjll cooperate in any program mutually agreed upon in the best interests of the community.” PfOfficials at the air corps base 'are watching the district’s 'devel­opment with great interest, since th e y \ have already asked for. •*;oao,\o0 gallons of water daily, d e c l a r i n g i t is a b s o lu te ly esse n * tiaV ftf# toamtenfr ikdpflr ‘flit--ex*" tensiv^ program planned. Their engineers have surveyed the sup­ply available in the valley, and have stated flatly that Lake (Continued on Page 2B) NORMA ALDER, housewife— If ^the city-_ad- ¥ jiyb, - y s t r i c t i o n, it would have been alright. As it is, it is a great inconvenience to a housewife who takes more than an hour to shop. BA ZE R -S— T h r e e o f th e m en w h o h a v e w o rk e d m ost tire-, reanzatiMlt'of n m x a s Vegas valley W ater District aref E it, State Senator C. D. Baker, Carl Hyde, chairman of-jgpiber of commerce industrial development committee, and [Grant, who preceded Hyde as committee head, and who’ Similar letters are being sent to Mayor' Ernest Cragin and -County Commission Chairman Ira Earl. Should a meeting bs held between you to discuss this matter; please feel free to call upon Mr. Hugh Shamberger and myself. f Sincerely yours, / i State Engineer. / / (SIGNED) Alfred Merritt Smith / / C O L O R A D O R IV E R C O M M IS S IO N E R S — A r e a r e p r e s e n ta tiv e s o n the Nevada Colorado R tv f e r chmmissibh, who are cooperating m efforts to create the Las Vegas Valley W ater District, are left to right, A. E. Cahlan, democratic national committeeman and Re­view -Journal managing director; J. M. Murphy, Las Vegas city manager, and John V. Mueller, acting project manager of the Basic Magnesium plant for the state of Nevada. ______ served as chamber president when the long fight for a w ater dis­trict was launched by that organization. LAS VE&AS VALLty WATER DISTRICT ... INCLUDING LAS VEGAS ARTESIAN BASIN CLARK COUNT/, NEV. TO TO NO PAH and CHARLESTON GLADSTONE PHILLIPS, law-clerk— I think ^ they are work-ftilf ing to the d et-p w i p riment of busi-wia tT „ n . ness establish-ments as w L ” soon as peo- **^5 ^ pie get used to them, I don’t think there will be any more complaints. I think they result in a faster business turnover. I m r s . c. b . McCl e l l a n d , sec-rotary — Dur-to be a step in the right direction. I am for them because I am for any move which will better tha community. e l e v a t e d T A N K ^ C ^ ^ f f i ^ l o T ^ ^ i n g w a t e r from Lalce Mead, for many years only a o residents of Las Vegas valley, were installed by the government to supply the plant during the w ar. The pipeline and pumping stations were turned over to leal last spring when Nevada took over the plant. The intake shown above is Boulder beach and the Vegas Wash. (Photo by William S. Russell). (EESERVO W $ PU M P E T A T IO N E L E V A T E D T A N K A N D P U M P S T A T IO N LOUIS CARTER, swimming I think ...?— r« f had b e^f or e tant to walk if motorists want to park out of the meter zones. ELEVATED TANK. coti Airy a i r p o r t ART HEDGECOCK, salesman. . I think the me­i l l ters sh o u 1 d ^ H h a v e three- H hour limits in- .11 stead of one for a 25-cent piece : m insl ea® of a ?L J nickel. Tour- ? 2 ' ists seem to re- H k ; % - 9 sent the orie- I J f l hour . law. A I l°nger t i m a limit would be of more benefit to the average eitizen. T R E A T M E N T PLANT base. The heavy dotted line in the lower right corner shows the pvivHny pipeline from Lake Mead to the Basic Magnesium plant. Proposed reservoirs, reserve tanks and pumping stations are also shown, which will insure even distribution of the water. Crea­tion of the district w ill enable Las Vegas valley to utilize a por­tion of the 90 billion gallons of w ater annually allotted to Nevada, and not used due to lack of facilities to draw it from Lake Mead. PROPOSED WATER DISTRICT—Map shows the boundaries of the Las Vegas Valey W ater District, upon which residents of the area will vote October 19. The dotted lines indicate the seven di­visions of the district, while the tentative route of the proposed pipeline from Henderson is also shown, branching off at the Las- Vegas city limits to the new county airport and to the air corps u n d e r THE PROPOSE setye as the initial point the I two reservoirs, can