Water Level in Las Vegas

Geologists and engineers were studying ground water conditions in the Las Vegas Valley from its first settlement. The engineers who surveyed routes for the railroad were concerned to identify possible water sources and identified the existence of the aquifer. The ranches in the region were all located around well-known natural springs which were channeled for irrigation. The wide-scale drilling to support new development contributed to a general knowledge of the water level, and it was well known, and often advertised and promoted, how far a well had to be sunk and how much water then flowed. The prevailing popular attitude about the ground water was that it was inexhaustible, and photographs from the early period of Las Vegas show numerous wells gushing water with the proud owners congratulating themselves as if they had struck oil.

A number of important studies of the ground water in southern Nevada were done by the United States Geological Survey, the first in 1915 by Everett Carpenter and then in 1945 and 1948 by George Maxey and C.H. Jameson. The work of Maxey and Jameson and their published reports did much to convince people that their water supply was not infinite and that new sources for water needed to be found, and new curbs on drilling and consumption imposed. The scientific and technical study of the quantity and quality of water in the Las Vegas Valley and Lake Mead has continued as the city and region struggles with drought conditions, unchecked urban sprawl, and the potential ecological impact of nuclear waste storage in Yucca Mountain.