The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-03-08
D0UCL LASSTARTS
 WORK ON WATER SUPPLY PROJECT
Dam Site Secured and 30| Men Are to Be Employ
 ed by CWA Officials

i
 After several weeks of investi- gations, surveying and planning the proposition of securing a boun- tiful supply of fresh water for the town of Douglas, under all condi- tions, at last, seems very likely of fulfillment and preparations are already under way to accomplish same With the generous support of the officials in Juneau, from the Governor down, much valuable data in connection with the pro- ject has been secured, and the local quota of CWA employers in- creased to thirty men to work on that and other municipal jobs al- ready projected. Hs m
 Development of Project ,s
 The water supply in Doublas became an important issue with the City Council during the latter part of last year when some of the business firms and private indiyid- uals most affected by the acute shortage of water existing at that time petitioned the Council to take steps to relieve the shortage. MT. Kilburn, owner of the Douglas Water Works, had stated that he was doing everything in his power to get more water into the pipes but the terrific cold weather had frozen the water solid at it's source. However, it was noted that through all the cold weather there was water in Bear Creek and records of previous cold spells when the town was out of water gave the same information.
 Realizing that was promising source of water to build a system on, the Council investigated the possibilities of a PWA loan to take care of streets, sewers, and a water system. The terms by which municipalities could secure such a loan at that time were such as could scarcely be overlooked.
 By petition it was ascertained that a large percentage of the peo- pie of Douglas were in favor of the town being bonded to secure such a loan for the purposes in- dicated. The matter was then ta- ken up with Dr. Philip Smith, representing the PWA and he with Attorney H. L. Faulkner of Juneau visited Douglas to look the situa- tion over. After brief survey, meeting was held in the City Hall at which the two visitors, several city officials, MT. Khburn and several others were present. At this meeting the discussion centered on the need of reservoir, capable of holding sufficient wa ter to tide over any temporary shortage, for the town. Several types of storage facilities were considered with no definite solu- tion of the problem being ad- vanced.
 Water Commission Appointed
 At the next succeeding meeting of the Council various phases of the water problem were again dis cussed. No definite plan, or pro- posal for remedying the situation, was brought out. MT. Kilburn, who was present at the meeting, was asked to give the city price on his water works Upon receipt at later date of MT. Kilburn's offer, the price being considered prohibitive, Mayor Smith appoint ed a committee of two Council men, and two property owners out side of the Council, to study the problem in all it's details, and get all information they could. The committed. composed by A. J. Ba- log, Ed Andrews, A. F. Granberg and Gus Lundell, assisted by Clerk Felix Gray, have been very active in the. matter to the end that a perfect dam-site has been found to exist in Bear Creek, at con- venient distance and suitable ele- vation, back of the town where water is available to the city and can be stored up in sufficient quantity to supply adequately, present and future household needs as well as largely increased fire protection. Foreman Schramm and crew of men are now at work clearing the dam-site. The dam is to be of reinforced concrete, approximately 65 feet wide by 35 feet high. It will be so con structed that an addition can be easily made at some future time should greater storage capacity be needed.
 Govt Officials Cooperative
 The importance of Douglas of- ficials taking the issue up at this time is evidenced by the support given the proposition by different government officials in. Juneau. Not only has valuable assistance