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Water District "A M u st" Civic Leaders Declare “ This is not a question o f w anting to bring w ater into the Vegas valley— it is som ething w e m ust do.” \ . • “If you don’t get the water from L ake M ead into the Las T egas valley, you w on ’t need it.” SfPS __. “ A n em ergency exists now , w here an auxiliary supply o f ----- fou n d fo r the replenishm ent into the aquaf eurs is not as great as the use the w ater is being put to in this- area.” These w ere a fe w o f the senti­m ents w hich w e re expressed at a m eeting o f leaders of the Las Vegas valley on Friday, during w hich the necessity fo r the, ap­p roval o f the w ater . district at the com ing election,, on October 19, was pointed out. A. E. Cahlan, m em ber o f the C olorado river com m ission fo r the the- state o f Nevada, asked the> assem bled guests w hether they realized the im portance of the w ater district project. He said that southern California was going after water- in a big w ay and p robably ,'w ould bring ,the fluid into the area from as far aw ay as the C olum bia fiv e r. H e , said that “we haven’t con ­ceived the expansion at the Basic m agnesium plant and th e only brake on that expansion w ill be the amount o f pow er -Available S Tor the lessees at .the plant. “ SeveralSkof the largest firm s [ in tile nation are dickering for | space at th e plant,” . Cahlan-said, | “ and th e main r e a so n , fo r the com parative, delay is. the fact, the i C olorado rive'r. comrnission is at- ! tem pting to bring in the largest .num ber o f people^ possible for • each k ilow att hour o f electricity used . “A b ig w est coast outfit, one t that has not been m en tion ed in I rum or at all, wants pow er, fou r i o f the sections a t . the .jrfant, "1,100 houses at Henderson and i large trackage expansion at Basic. This is only one of ; scores,” he said. * ?; H e ' pointed out also that sey-. | leral of the com panies w hich' are •looking fo r 'space at the plant ; w ill bring develop m en t to other S ection s o f the. state as w ell ;,as' 1 {this area, and they, he said,'haU I jurally w ou ld be . given alL; the ? breaks' possible, . H e declared the D uPont nego- , tiations, o f w hich so- m uch h as; been heard, are in good ..shape, S but, of 'necessity, are -being de- 1 Saved to a degree by the neces- j sity o f “ lots of, engineering and J [lots, o f technicalities.” ___ - - _ gSgH I Cahlan d eclared that “ the larg-lest developm ent, so far as hous-in and business is concerned, w ill be in Las Vegas proper because I most o f these com panies do nut I wan* to house their em ployes ‘ o close to the jo b as Henderson. ’? H ow ever, he pointed p u t, the I Henderson area,-as w e ll .as Bo.ul- 1 der City; w ill m ake rapid strides I in population gains, along with I Las Vegas. “ W e must solve the w ater sup- ? ply problem , how ever, if Las V®- I gas is to grow . There is no other I w ay to. solve that p roblem except by bringing w ater in from Lake I P Mead. . W e had better do th it than be out of water. This is a m ysti There is no question about out wanting to do it— w e have ? to d o it.” ? * i -C arl H yde, director o f the cham ber o f com m erce w ho presided at the m eeting, de- | clared that “ i f w e don’t get this I w ater in w e w on ’t n e e d ‘ If,» pointing out that, if a scarcity o f w ater d evelops in this sec­tion, and it is quite likely to unless the artesian supply is augm ented, people w ill m ove ou t o f here b y the thousands-j and there w on 't be any need fo r w ater— Las Vegas w ill be a.gh ost town. Franjf Gusew elle, chairman o f the county com m ission, pointed to tw o com m unities in the south­w est w h ich are having w ater troubles and? pleaded w ith those present not to force Las V egas in to tfce same category. *». • ; ' Salt rivgr..Valley,faround- ,P h oem x, has to lift' w ater 100 p e e t n o w ,.'fro m , w ells that once t-weie hrtesiari. Those people face I the expense o f m any m illions o f UJ-ellars to get- w ater in fo r their prop’s. 1 “ K ern county is faced w ith the same proposition, and expansion j [is stym ied. W e .have the oppor- Iltu n ity to get an abundance of w a t e r , com paratively cheapiy, | through this w ater district,” he [said, “ and .the people m ust be I m ade to realize the im portance o f this election and the im por­tance o f voting fo r the district.” L e o A . McNamee,- pioneer resi­dent o f Las Vegas and attorney, pointed out that “w e not only w ill be curbing the future grow th o f this area, w e already are using 1 m ore 'ivater than can be supplied j I from the artesian belt and, ?n ( I tw o or three years, unless an I | additional source is found, w e f I w ill be faced w ith the probabil- i I ity of w atching lim its be placed I on the am ount o f w ater w e can • I use. W e eventually w ill run out j I o f water, unless an additional I supply is provided.” ! I H yde presided at the m eeting { and traced the developm ent o f I the present w ater district projv* ; J ect, saying it was born in 19S$i ! and has been g r o w i n g ever : I