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I O ccupation b y M ajor Industry Groups North Clark County Las Vegas Las Vegas Henderson N um ber E m ployed .................:..................... .......... 18,225 10,380 1,347 1,270 % in Groups A griculture .......... 1............. — - 2.9% 0,8% 1.0% 1.1% M ining ........................................................................ 1.6 0.5 1.4 1.5 Construction ..............................................................1 11.5 7.4 . 16.9 10.2 M anufacturing ....................................................... 5.7 3.9 4.4 22.7 Transportation & P ublic Utilities....................... 9.7 10.2 9.4 6.8 W holesale & Retail T rade.................................... 21.7 24.2 24.0 17.9 Finance, Insurance, Real Estate...:...................... .2.4 2.7 2.2 2.8 Business & Repair Services................ 1................ 3.4 3.9 5.0 2.2 Personal S erv ices..................................................... 14.0 17.0 15.3 5.5 Entertainm ent & Recreation Services.............. 11.1 15.8 7.5 4.6 Professional & Related Services......................... 6.5 6.7 3.6 9.6 P ublic Adm inistration .......................................... 8.1 . 5.7 7.1 13.8 N ot R e p o r te d ........................................................... 1.4 1.2 2.2 1.3 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% H is to ry : T h e existence of Las V egas is based on water. T h e nam e Las V egas means “ T he M eadow ,” or a place of “ green verdure.” T h e first know n white man to enter the Las V egas V alley was Father Garces, a Franciscan M onk, w hose records show that he was here in 1775. A year later Escalante, on his trip o f exploration from Santa Fe, N ew M exico, is believed to have stopped here, but made no official record o f the visit. Since then there are many reports from the early day prospectors and trappers regarding the large spring and green valley in the middle of a desert area. A m on g those w ho were through here w ere Bridger, K it Carson, O gden, L ew is and Clark, and others less fam ous. H ow ever, the first official record com es from Captain John C. Frem ont (directed from W ashington to make a survey o f the southwest territory). H e and his troop cam ped at the B ig Springs in 1844. From there on the record shows that Las V egas was a recognized stop-over on the M orm on Trail on the trek of these hardy pioneers from Salt Lake to San Bernardino. In June o f 1855, a m ission o f the Church o f the Latter D ay Saints, headed b y W illiam Brinkhurst, was established at what was then know n as the Gass Ranch, now know n as the Stewart Ranch. A fort for pro­tection against m arauding Indians was im m ediately built, a part of w hich is still standing. F or m any years the area was interm ittently prospected, farm ed and used as a stop-over by the early pioneers. In 1900 under the directive pow er of Senator Clark of M ontana, a survey prelim inary to the construction of the San Pedro, Salt Lake & L os A ngeles R ailw ay w hich becam e the L os A ngeles & Salt Lake, later taken over b y the U nion Pacific in 1921, was started from Salt Lake. This survey finding the large volum e o f underground water available, decided to make Las V egas the division point and site for their shops and to establish a tow n, which was the beginning of the present day Las V egas. The: original tow nsite sales w ere held in 1905. T h e railroad, through Senator Clark, purchased the Stewart Ranch of 1800 acres, which carried with it the water rights to the original B ig Springs. T h e flow from B ig Springs was sufficient to supply the needs o f the railroad and allow them to establish a subsidiary com pany, the Las V ega s Land and W ater Com pany, for the distribution of water to the hom es of the new com m unity. T he flow from this spring was sufficient for m any years, but upon discovery b y som e of the enterprising early day citizens that the com m unity was located in an artesian basin, the railroad through its subsidiary drilled an artesian well, w hich turned out to be the third largest in the world. This well, together w ith others drilled later, has taken care of the demands of the com m unity up until the last few years when the city ’s phenom enal grow th began to overdraw the water com ing into the underground aquifers. 7 I % Since 1945 the population, both permanent and floating, has increased so rapidly that the underground w ater supply is being overdraw n. Studies b y the N evada State Engineer and b y the U nited States G eological Survey show that the average annual replenishment o f the Las V egas V alley basin is betw een 9,770 and 11,400 m illion gallons. T he withdraw al from the basin in 1946 was 12,050 m illion gallons and in 1952 was 14,800 m illion gallons, as estim ated b y the State Engineer. T he 1953 figure w ill be considerably higher, and as the population increases the difference between withdrawals and replenishm ent w ill continue to increase. T h e on ly available source of additional water is Lake M ead, behind H oover Dam. E xcept for the city o f H enderson, the entire Las V egas V alley obtains its w ater from the underground supply. H enderson obtains w ater through the Basic M anagem ent, Inc., pipeline from Lake Mead. B y contract with the U nited States the State of N evada is allotted 300,000 acre feet (about 97,700 m illion gallons) annually from the C olorado R iver o f w hich the D istrict is entitled to 43,000 acre feet annually b y contract with the State of Nevada. In 1948 the voters o f the Las V egas V alley established the Las V egas V alley W ater District. E ngineering studies ordered b y the D istrict’s Board o f D irectors resulted in the execution o f a contract in 1952 w ith Basic M anagem ent, Inc., for obtaining water from the existing Lake M ead facilities and a 1953 agreem ent with the U nion Pacific for the purchase of the Las V egas Land and W ater Com pany water supplies and water system. R ecent reports on the w ater problem in the Las V egas V alley are: W ater Resources Bulletin N o. 5— State o f N evada, Office o f the State Engineer, G eology and W ater Resources o f the Las V egas, Pahrum p and Indian Springs V alleys, 1948; Las V egas V alley W ater D istrict: R eport on W ater Supply, b y Greeley & Hansen, Engineers, Chicago, dated O ctober, 1949; a report by Ralph W . O ’N eill and James M . M ontgom ery to the C olorado R iver Com m ission o f N evada on the feasibility o f increasing the capacity of the Lake M ead— B .M .I. supply system , dated February, 1952; R eport on P roposed Supplem ental W a ter Supply and R einforcem ent o f D istribution System b y James M. M ontgom ery, Consulting Engineer, Pasadena, dated M arch, 1954; and letter from Black & Veatch, Consulting Engineers, Kansas City, M issouri, to the Board of D irectors of the Las V egas V alley W ater D istrict, dated M arch, 1954, review ing the D istrict’s proposed project. D uring the period w hile the tw o pontracts w ere being negotiated, studies w ere made of the facilities required to deliver Lake M ead water to Las V egas and the facilities required to extend and reinforce the existing Las V egas water system. T h e report o f James M . M ontgom ery, consulting engineer for the District, dated M arch, 1954, estimates that the total cost of the project w ill be $8,700,000. M ontgom ery was head of the engineering firm w hich designed the Lake M ead— B .M .I. w ater supply system for the D efense Plant C orporation in 1942. On Septem ber 30, 1953, the voters of the W ater D istrict approved an $8,700,000 bond issue b y a vote o f 5836 to 1834. There was a turnout o f approxim ately 82% o f the registered .voters (the .owners of real property in the D istrict; non-ow ners do not participate in D istrict elections). T h e P r o je c t: T h e m ajor features o f the p roject are (1) the purchase of the Las V egas Land and W ater Com pany w ater supply and water facilities, (2) extensions and im provem ents to the Las V egas distribution system , and (3) a pipeline from the existing Lake M ead-H enderson line to Las V eg a s.1 1. T h e Las V egas Land and W ater Com pany properties to be acquired consist of a dom estic water system, a w ell field containing 11 wells, tw o ground level concrete reservoirs w ith a total o f 3.7 m illion gallons storage capacity, som e 70 miles o f w ater mains, and 507 acres of w ater-bearing land and rights o f w ay. T h e Com pany com pleted a num ber o f im provem ents during 1953. Pum ps w ere installed in all of the w ells w hich w ere not already so equipped, thus increasing the rate of withdrawal considerably over that o f normal artesian flow. V arious new lines were added to serve new custom ers, under the supervision and with the approval o f D istrict officials. M ontgom ery reports that he found the Com pany system to be in good condition and less than 12 years old on the average. $2,500,000 is the agreed basic purchase price for the water utility. T h e actual sum paid is expected to be som ew hat less due to adjustm ents in the basic purchase price b y reason of obligations to reimburse certain am ounts pursuant to contracts in aid o f construction betw een the Com pany and subdividers. 2. Im provem ents and extensions to the Las V egas system planned b y the D istrict include a 30 m illion gallon storage reservoir w hich w ill serve gravity water to m ost of the city except som e recently annexed high ground in the w estern part o f the city, for w hich a 500,000 gallon elevated 8