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Occupation by Major Industry Groups Clark County Las Vegas North Las Vegas Henderson Number Employed .................................................. ......... 18,225 10,380 1,347 1,270 % in Groups Agriculture ................................................................. .......... 2.9% 0 .8 % 1.0 % 1.1% Mining ......................................................................... .......... 1.6 0.5 1.4 1.5 Construction .............................................................. 11.5 7.4 16.9 10.2 Manufacturing ........................... .............................. .......... 5.7 3.9 4.4 22.7 Transportation & Public Utilities....................... .......... 9.7 10.2 9.4 6.8 Wholesale & Retail Trade.................................... 21.7 24.2 24.0 17.9 Finance, Insurance, Real Estate......................... .......... 2.4 2.7 2.2 2.8 Business & Repair Services.................................. .......... 3.4 3.9 5.0 2.2 Personal Services..................................................... .......... 14.0 17.0 15.3 5.5 Entertainment & Recreation Services.............. .......... 11.1 15.8 7.5 4.6 Professional & Related Services......................... .......... 6.5 6.7 3.6 9.6 Public Administration .......................................... .......... 8.1 5.7 7.1 13.8 Not R eported............................................................ .......... 1.4 1.2 2.2 1.3 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 % H istory: The existence of Las Vegas is based on water. The name Las Vegas means “The Meadow,” or a place of “green verdure.” The first known white man to enter the Las Vegas Valley was Father Garces, a Franciscan Monk, whose records show that he was here in 1775. A year later Escalante, on his trip of exploration from Santa Fe, New Mexico, is believed to have stopped here, but made no official record of the visit. Since then there are many reports from the early day prospectors and trappers regarding the large spring and green valley in the middle of a desert area. Among those who were through here were Bridger, Kit Carson, Ogden, Lewis and Clark, and others less famous. However, the first official record comes from Captain John C. Fremont (directed from Washington to make a survey of the southwest territory). He and his troop camped at the Big Springs in 1844. From there on the record shows that Las Vegas was a recognized stop-over on the Mormon Trail on the trek of these hardy pioneers from Salt Lake to San Bernardino. In June of 1855, a mission of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, headed by William Brinkhurst, was established at what was then known as the Gass Ranch, now known as the Stewart Ranch. A fort for pro­tection against marauding Indians was immediately built, a part of which is still standing. For many years the area was intermittently prospected, farmed and used as a stop-over by the early pioneers. In 1900 under the directive power of Senator Clark of Montana, a survey preliminary to the construction of the San Pedro, Salt Lake & Los Angeles Railway which became the Los Angeles & Salt Lake, later taken over by the Union Pacific in 1921, was started from Salt Lake. This survey finding the large volume of underground water available, decided to make Las Vegas the division point and site for their shops and to establish a town, which was the beginning of the present day Las Vegas. The original townsite sales were held in 1905. The railroad, through Senator Clark, purchased the Stewart Ranch of 1800 acres, which carried with it the water rights to the original Big Springs. The flow from Big Springs was sufficient to supply the needs of the railroad and allow them to establish a subsidiary company, the Las Vegas Land and W ater Company, for the distribution of water to the homes of the new community. The flow from this spring was sufficient for many years, but upon discovery by some of the enterprising early day citizens that the community was located in an artesian basin, the railroad through its subsidiary drilled an artesian well, which turned out to be the third largest in the world. This well, together with others drilled later, has taken care of the demands of the community up until the last few years when the city’s phenomenal growth began to overdraw the water coming into the underground aquifers. 7 Since 1945 the population, both permanent and floating, has increased so rapidly that the underground water supply is being overdrawn. Studies by the Nevada State Engineer and by the United States Geological Survey show that the average annual replenishment of the Las Vegas Valley basin is between 9,770 and 11,400 million gallons. The withdrawal from the basin in 1946 was 12,050 million gallons and in 1952 was 14,800 million gallons, as estimated by the State Engineer. The 1953 figure will be considerably higher, and as the population increases the difference between withdrawals and replenishment will continue to increase. The only available source of additional water is Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam. Except for the city of Henderson, the entire Las Vegas Valley obtains its water from the underground supply. Henderson obtains water through the Basic Management, Inc., pipeline from Lake Mead. By contract with the United States the State of Nevada is allotted 300,000 acre feet (about 97,700 million gallons) annually from the Colorado River of which the District is entitled to 43,000 acre feet annually by contract with the State of Nevada. In 1948 the voters of the Las Vegas Valley established the Las Vegas Valley W ater District. Engineering studies ordered by the District’s Board of Directors resulted in the execution of a contract in 1952 with Basic Management, Inc., for obtaining water from the existing Lake Mead facilities and a 1953 agreement with the Union Pacific for the purchase of the Las Vegas Land and W ater Company water supplies and water system. Recent reports on the water problem in the Las Vegas Valley are: W ater Resources Bulletin No. 5— State of Nevada, Office of the State Engineer, Geology and W ater Resources of the Las Vegas, Pahrump and Indian Springs Valleys, 1948; Las Vegas Valley W ater District: Report on W ater Supply, by Greeley & Hansen, Engineers, Chicago, dated October, 1949; a report by Ralph W . O’Neill and James M. Montgomery to the Colorado River Commission of Nevada on the feasibility of increasing the capacity of the Lake Mead— B.M.I. supply system, dated February, 1952; Report on Proposed Supplemental W ater Supply and Reinforcement of Distribution System by James M. Montgomery, Consulting Engineer, Pasadena,, .dated March, 1954; and letter from Black & Veatch, Consulting Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, to the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Valley W ater District, dated March, 1954, reviewing the District’s proposed project. During the period while the two contracts were being negotiated, studies were made of the facilities required to deliver Lake Mead water to Las Vegas and the facilities required to extend and reinforce the existing Las Vegas water system. The report of James M. Montgomery, consulting engineer for the District, dated March, 1954, estimates that the total cost of the project will be $8,700,000. Montgomery was head of the engineering firm which designed the Lake M ead-S B.M.I. water supply system for the Defense Plant Corporation in 1942. On September 30, 1953, the voters of the W ater District approved an $8,700,000 bond issue by a vote of 5836 to 1834. There was a turnout of approximately 82% of the registered voters (the owners of real property in the District; non-owners do not participate in District elections). The Project: The major features of the project are (1) the purchase of the Las Vegas Land and W ater Company water supply and water facilities, (2) extensions and improvements to the Las Vegas distribution system, and (3) a pipeline from the existing Lake Mead-Henderson line to Las Vegas. 1. The Las Vegas Land and W ater Company properties to be acquired consist of a domestic water system, a well field containing 11 wells, two ground level concrete reservoirs with a total of 3.7 million gallons storage capacity, some 70 miles of water mains, and 507 acres of water-bearing land and rights of way. The Company completed a number of improvements during 1953. Pumps were installed in all of the wells which were not already so equipped, thus increasing the rate of withdrawal considerably over that of normal artesian flow. Various new lines were added to serve new customers, under the supervision and with the approval of District officials. Montgomery reports that he found the Company system to be in good condition and less than 12 years old on the average. $2,500,000 is the agreed basic purchase price for the water utility. The actual sum paid is expected to be somewhat less due to adjustments in the basic purchase price by reason of obligations to reimburse certain amounts pursuant to contracts in aid of construction between the Company and subdividers. 2. Improvements and extensions to the Las Vegas system planned by the District include a 30 million gallon storage reservoir which will serve gravity water to most of the city except some recently annexed high ground in the western part of the city, for which a 500,000 gallon elevated 8