El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-10-11

LIVE thousand dollars were aDpro-
priated by the city council at a
special meeting Friday morning with
The members OF the high line canal
committee in the council chamber for
the purpose Of carrying out prelim-
mary Investigations for a permanent
city water supply.
Alderman =. p. O'Connor made the
motion. seconded by alderman r. C.
SemPIe. Alderman Frank simmons
was not present
The high line canal committee. con
SlstlnE Of George r. Le6aruu, chair
man: G. =. Bassett. J. W. Kirkpatrick.
Robert Era kauer. G. a. Martin, A. T.
Burgess Of II paso and F. C.. Barker
and George Clark. OF Las Cruces
filed q report with the city asking
that an approprlauon OF $4,000 be
made, payable $4,000 year, FOR
carrying on the work. The mayor and
the two councllmen present said this
would not be available at this time
but they expressed a willingness TO
appropriate $500 to retain Louis C.
Hilrs engineering firm OF Los An
Celcs for a year and $500 for eZ-
ueuses. when this is used up" said
mayor Davis. eve will see what steps
10 take II we have more money, we
viii advance it. I believe il is nee
essary for the city Of Fl Paso to in
Vestigate possibilities or a perman-
cnt water supply and I think now is
The time. i is only a question OF
money. I would hate 20 90 on record
as apprOpriatiuE $4,000 now, for we
are not sure where we can get It.
have my doubts il we collect 65 per-
cent Of the taxes due this year"
O'Connor SAYS supply Plentiful.
Alderman O'COnuor was inclined 10
think the city had a permanent water
supply as cheaply as 10 could be Sc
cured from the high line canal How
ever. he admitted that the supply
might not serve a large city later He
said he thought the supply was ade-
Quale for the next ten years at least I
The water level is lowered, OF
course. where we pump continuously I
from one locality" he said, but we
are putting wells down all over the
city and we can in this way let GER
tain wells rest at certain times. The ]
water rises high in them If they are
given a ten day rest We are now .
not using half our pumping ma
chinery on the mesa; IL is not neces- :
sarr-
AIR. Hill en- asserting that our wa
Ter supply would soon be too small for
The city. said we would have popu-
ration of 10000 in 1920 We viii be I.
lucky if we have as many then as We
have now.
we could get good water. cheaper
Than from the mesa. by pumping il
ID the lower part Of the city into a
settling tank on the mesa. but the
people would not stand for Il. The
water would be just as good"
Rates Too High.
T. r. lawson, United States recla-
nation service engineer, said there
was no comparison between the cost
OF pumped water and water obtained
through gravity. This was demon
srrated. he said. in the FL Paso val
ley. where people at one time tried
20 pump for irrigation and found It too
expensive. He said the city OF FL
Paso should set ready now for the
future. as II was only case Of soon
er or later obtaining the water from
the Rio Graude. we may wait until
all the water IS appropriated for
farms" said he Then we could not
get H. We should get IN now, while
we can, and get a contract for this
water
AS an individual I want TO say
that il is disgrace the price we D
have 20 paw for water The city Of !
Washington furnishes water that IS
filtered at four cents a thousand gal I
Ions and we have TO pay % cents I
here It IS enough 10 keep people I
away from the city"
Porter W Dent. replying 10 a ques-
ton from mayor Davis, said he
thought the city could get a contract
giving IL prior right 20 the water for
rnrrufcfnal PURPOSES in event OF a