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SECTION I: G E N ERAL 1 .0 3 . W ater supply. The C ity of L as V egas and surrounding t e r r it o r y have depended e x c lu s iv e ly upon the underlying a rtesia n ba sin fo r w ater sin ce the com m u n ity was fir s t esta b lish ed . Until r e c e n tly the grow th of the com m u n ity has been norm al, and the w ater supply has been adequate. Since 1945, the population, both perm an ent and tran sien t, has in c re a s e d so ra p id ly that the ground w ater b a sin is being overdraw n* and, during the hot d ry su m m er m onths, the supply situation has b e ­com e in c re a s in g ly c r itic a l. The L as V egas groun d w ater b a sin has been studied in ten siv ely b y the State E ngineer o f N evada and b y the United States G e o lo g ica l S u rvey. The re su lts have b een re p o rte d in B u lletin s issu e d b y the State E n g in eer. The studies show that the avera ge annual r e p le n is h ­m ent of the L as V egas V a lle y ground w ater b a sin is betw een 30, 000 and 35, 000 a c r e fe e t. The estim ated w ithdraw al fr o m the b a sin in 1946 was 36, 700 a cre fe e t. In 1952 the w ithdraw al was 45, 000 a cre fe e t. T h ese w ithdraw al fig u re s w ere fu rn ish ed b y the State E ngineer o f N evada. The w ithdraw al in 1953 is not known as yet but was un­doubtedly co n s id e ra b ly higher than in 1952. With the ra p id in c r e a s e in population the d iffe re n ce betw een w ithdraw als and rep len ish m en t w ill continue to in c r e a s e . R ea lizin g that the future grow th of the en tire com m u n ity depended upon an adequate w ater supply, the v o te rs of the L as V egas V a lley , in 1948, esta b lish ed the L as V egas V a lle y W ater D is tr ic t. The W ater D is ­tra ct has an a rea of 196,480 a c r e s including the t e r r it o r y shown on P L A T E I. A ll of this a rea , ex cep t the C ity o f H en derson , has depended upon the underground basin fo r its w ater supply. H en d erson , although in clu ded within the bou n d aries o f the L a s V ega s V a lle y W ater D is tr ic t, obtains its w ater supply fr o m Lake M ead through the fa c ilitie s of the in d u strial grou p w hich owns B a s ic M anagem ent, In c. The on ly available so u r ce of additional w ater supply is Lake M ead. The L a s V egas V a lle y W ater D is tr ic t was fo rm e d fo r the p u r ­p o s e s of p rovid in g expanded s e r v ic e including additional supply fr o m Lake M ead. The c o s t of building a new intake and fa c ilitie s to b rin g w ater all the way fr o m Lake M ead was found to be too g rea t fo r the a r e a 's e s t i­m ated bonding ca p a city . F o r this re a so n , e ffo rts w ere m ade fir s t , to a cq u ire the w ater fa c ilitie s o rig in a lly built b y the D efen se P lant C o r ­p ora tion fo r B a s ic M agnesiu m , In c. and la te r, after a cq u isition b eca m e - 3 -