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£ water t h e r e o f Uke * *** ^ °f ^ ®rm t,d s0 “ oh +Via Ill state of Nevada has a contract with the Department of he Interior fo r the withdrawal of 300,000 acre fe e l per year from the Colorado River water storage in Lake Mead, QUEST1ON* As an individual, how would an individual acquire that water? Say we wanted to put in a pumping plant, could we apply through your o ffice ? SM1IHL T° ill an aPProPri ation* yesi apply fo su fficien t to meet the needs, r an appropriation • . MR* KALTENBORN* Y ou say the water should be brought in from the Lake — Who is going to assume the resp on sib ility o f bringing the water in - the present Water Company - U s Vegas, or who? And i f they expect Las Vegas to do i t , are they take over th® existin g Water Company? Someone has to take the b itte r SWe®?* xw® ^ s t got t h r 0ush hiring an executive fo r the Chamber of Commerce of no mean a b ility - Mr, Hyde - to influence people to come here and in vest. Did we make a mistake in hiring this man and then admitting that we have no water? MR. SMITH* I think we have answered that as best we can, Mr. Kaltenborn, There s water available from Mead Lake su fficie n t fo r a ll needs here. We tried °Ut th&t i f i t is brou6ht in here» we insure a permanent supply fo r a ll future growth, including industries. At the same time, the water you have here now is cheaper water and better water, and should be conserved to the utmost lim it. MR. KALTENBORN* What agency could bring the water in? MR. SMITH* A number of agencies can bring i t in . Its up to the City of Las Vegas to say who. The State could do so through le g isla tio n . There are various steps to be taken f i r s t . We don’ t propose to stand here and t e ll you what you should io . MR. GRANT* Don’ t we have statute# that cover power d istricts? MR. SMITH* Statutes fo r irriga tion d istricts and under the new under­ground water law - artesian d istricts like you have here. MR. GRANT* Has your o ffic e given any study to that question? The reason I ask that - a few years back, I had considerable correspondence with Gray Mashburn, our Attorney General, in which he urged people interested in this area to create a water d is tr ic t, in order that we may make application fo r an appropriation of water from Lake Mead. Since this thing has come up, i t runs through my mind that we have statutes on irrig a tion d istricts that, possibly by amendment, could be broadened enough to include water d is tr ic ts along the lines o f power d is tr ic ts , where they might bond themselves and take over the existing system i f and when i t is offered fo r sa le. It would be a Governmental function, and wouldn’ t be under the close acrutiny that the Las Vegas Land & Water Company would be under. It would have the backing of the State - not fin a n cia lly , but morally, as i t would be a child o f the State, I ’ m going up there and w ill see Gray, and go into the thing with him. I wondered whether ypur o ffic e has ever given any thought to such a setup, acting through a water d is tr ic t, to get the cooperation of a ll concerned, including the Las Vegas Land k Water Company. They may need the additional water. They may be w illin g to cooperate with the water (10)