Las Vegas age. [volume] (Las Vegas, Nev.) 1905-1947, 1927-12-10
NOTED ENGINEER
MAKES PLEA FOR
THE BOULDER DAM
William MulhoIIand Warns of
Danger from Water Short
age.-Makes Answer To
Self Appointed Fact Find
ing Committee.

.
IF Los Angeles and her neigh
boring Southern California cities
are to avert a disastrous water
shortage, we must secure adop-
tion of the Boulder Canyon Dam
bill at this session OF Congress-
Such was the declaration yes
terday by William Mulholland,
chief engineer of the Los Angeles
Municipal Water Bureau and
builder of the Owens River aque-
duct
Recognized as one of the ma.
tions' foremost authorities in the
field of hydraulic engineering, Mr..
Mulholland, in a statement made
yesterday, asserted that Southern
California today faces the GER
tainty Of eXhausting its present
water supply sources within a
very few years.
"The time for quibbling and
on the question of Col
orado River control and develop
ment has past" declared Mr.. Mul-
holland. IF the people of South
ern California are to save them
selves from a disastrous flood and
an equally disastrous water short
age, they must present a united
front in this great task of seclr-
ing favorable national legislation.
For years we have been listen
ing patiently to the half-baked OBJ
jections and alternative plans OF
persons and groups seeking to
divert attention from the one and
only practicable plan for the con
troll and development of the Col
orado.
"This plan calls for the con-
struction of a high dam at Bould-
or Canyon. 1t is plan that has
been carefully studied and endors'
ed by the highest engineering au-
thor.ties in America. 1t is the
plan that is supported and urged
by President Coolidge, Secretary
Hoover, Secretary Work and the
heads of the United States Rec
lamation Service"
!"These men have not indOrsed
the proposed Boulder Canyon
project through any desire to ad-
vance the plans of a particular
group in the Southwest. They
have supported this plan because
they know that it is the only sane
and feasible scheme to provide
permanent flood protection for I'M
perial Valley and at the same
time permit the Southwest to fin
ance the project through workable
and necessary water and power
purchases.
Cheap power will be required
to lift the aqueduct water several
hundred feet on its journey tc
Southern California cities. The
one logical source for the develop
ment of this necessary power IS
Boulder Dam.
Furthermore, the dam is need
ed to desilt the water of the Col
orado before it can be diverted
into an aqueduct.
"For the past forty years | nave
been studying and investigating
every wafer supply source IN ana
available TO Southern California.
| think | know something about
this problem. And these studies
reveal as plain as anything can be
revealed that Los Angeles must
90 TO the Colorado for additional
domestic water-and go at once
or If will be toN late.
I'VE know exactly how much
water we can expect to obtain
from our local sources and from
the Owens River basin.
1--WE are now developing these
sources to their utmost. We nave
an ample supply of water to meet
our preseut needs and our ruture
needs for about eight years.
when that eight-year period mas
elapsed we must have addltlohal
water available from the Colorado
River. 70 make this water avail
able will require the building oil an
aoueduct 260 miles long-an aque-
duct that win cost this city mil
lions of dollars and will require
every minute Of ,sthe next eight
wears successfully to complete.
"These are the unvarnished
Facts concerning the domestic
water situation in Los Angeles
and Southern California generaly
Recently there came out Of Utah
from a mysterious, self styled
''fact-finding committee" the state
ment that Los Angeles now has