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Las Vegas - August 16, 1953. M3*« $to* Heinhardtl Referring to attached clippings shortage August 15 A 16* 1951* concerning water About 8120 P*M*tAlliest X4th, tie had a power failure caused by a blown fuse on the Power Company side of our sub* station as a result of which our 3-phaae circuit was single f based* fh » fuse was replaced and power service resumed about 100 P*H* All power equipment was reset and' normal operation resuned exospt pun© motors on veils nos* 5 and 3.0* fhe condi­tion at veil Ho* $ was easily corrected and operation restored but It was found the short circuit had burnt out motor on w e ll Ho* lo - necessitating removal* shipment to Los Angeles for repairs and reinstalling which was completed about IDS00 this morning* Following resumption of service the watchman on duty fa ile d to take in to consideration our reduced production but continued to maintain normal pressures throughout the night and as a re s u lt the re se rvoirs were aprrojclri&tely h a lf empty by 10*30 A*M* * August 15th, and lo sin g about $* per hour before we were advised of the s itu a tio n . When a fte r f ir s t reducing pressures the withdrawal continued to exceed our production, I requested the lo c a l radio stations to broadcast an appeal to the pu blic to discontinue a l l sp rin k lin g during the balance of the day and in general the pu blic responded wholeheartedly as our consumption was reduced from 16*500,000 gallons on August 14th to 14*495,*000 fo r August 15th* However, by of30 F*M* the Charleston re se rvo ir was empty and we had only g ra v ity flow* As a re s u lt the area along Charleston west of the Hospital was p ra c tic a lly without water* Even w ith the reduced production* I fe e l we could have furnished reasonably adequate service had the watchman on duty used any Judgment by reducing the pressure at the Charleston Reservoir a fte r midnight* August 14th* fro® usual operating pressure of 30-33 lbs* to 8-10 1he* which would have restated in a substantial quantity of water being stored fo r August 15th* The watchmen have repeatedly been requested to reduce pressures a fte r the heavy withdrawal periods* p& rticta& rly a fte r midnight when i t can be done sa fe ly and w ithout detriment to our service but i t appears impossible to obtain any re a lis tic understanding of the situation* I t fu rth e r appears our pumping- equipment should be so protected th a t, as in th is instance* a blown out fuse cannot single phase our operating c irc u its and bum out our pimping equipment motors# Z have discussed this situation with Division Engineer Martin, who will be here Monday to investigate the matter and X will advise you results* w* He Johnson