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m Las Vegas Review Journal-September 22, 1950 Wale*'Company Ordered to Up Vegas Supply Th e lias Vegas land and w a-, ter company today was ordered by 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 ard Cannon, achieved at least a technical vic ­tory as m em bers- of the public service group agreed to re-open the hearing if the water com-1 pany doesn’t come through w ith ! a solution by January 1 of next! year. j The company said it would > make a series of tests on two! of its m ajor w ells-during peakj usage periods', b y installing booster pumps to determine whether both supply and pres-, sure can be increased. ' Under cross examination by Cannon, both Hugh Shamberger a n d -H a rry Jam ison, of the state engineer’s office, witnesses for the w a te r. company, admitted there was a definite lack of w a­ter in Las Vegas considering its population and potential future growth. : : The water company’s agree­ment to institute immediate remedies followed their testi­mony, under cross examination. The -public/ service commis­sion’s announcement of its de­cision nam e from Chairm an George Allard following a brief recess during which both sides got. together ih an effort to come up with a solution. Technical and other difficulties confronting Las Vegas and its long-pending efforts to obtain a more adequate water supply were also discussed this m orn­ing. i Sal - There were two trams oi thought as the Las Vegas land and water company appeared be­fore the Commission to defend charges by M ayor E . W . Cragin and members of the local coun­cil that it has “ done nothing’’ in 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 w it­nesses insisted water conserva­tion would result with the in- ! stallation of meters in both com­m ercial establishments and p ri­vate homes. Howard F . Clark, chief engi­neer and general manager of te Las Vegas valley water dis­trict, 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 w ar conditions. He said, however, that authori­ties at the Nellis A ir 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 that if they are adopted it would result in a water saving of approximately two or three million gallons a day. . .,..-.,0,_____ iiiH,