The Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) is a not-for-profit government water supply agency that has been providing water to the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...

since 1954. The district helped build the area's water delivery system and now provides water to more than one million people in Southern Nevada. Today the District provides water to the City of Las Vegas, the unincorporated areas of Clark County including

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and

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, where the major

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casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s are located,

Kyle Canyon The Spring Mountains are a mountain range of Southern Nevada in the United States, running generally northwest–southeast along the west side of Las Vegas and south to the border with California. Most land in the mountains is owned by the Uni ...

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, and

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. The Clark County Commissioners serve as the Water District's board of directors. The board appoints the general manager, who carries out day-to-day activities. District water rates are regulated by law and can cover only the costs of water delivery and the maintenance and building of facilities. Rates also are structured to encourage conservation with rates increasing with usage. The Water District is a member agency of the

Southern Nevada Water Authority The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is a government agency that was founded in 1991 to manage Southern Nevada's water needs on a regional basis in Clark County, Nevada, Clark County. SNWA provides wholesale water treatment and delivery for t ...

, (SNWA), a regional organization that works to secure water resources for the valley. SNWA also provides conservation programs for customers of member agencies. The district also is steward to the

Las Vegas Springs Preserve Las Vegas Springs Preserve consists of dedicated to nature walks and displays and is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The Preserve is located approximately three miles west of downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevad ...

, the historical home of Las Vegas' founding springs. The district is a partner in developing the preserve into a cultural resource center, featuring exhibits, trails, gardens and more.

History

In the early 1900s, Las Vegas was a hub for the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Railroad, which later became part of the Union Pacific Railroad. The company formed the Las Vegas Land and Water Company (LVL&W) in 1905 to sell land and provide water to Las Vegas' growing population. At that time, water came solely from wells and the

Las Vegas Springs The Las Vegas Springs or Big Springs is the site of a natural oasis, known traditionally as a cienega. For more than 15,000 years, springs broke through the desert floor, creating grassy meadows (called ''las vegas'' by Spanish New-Mexican explo ...

. Hoping to curb groundwater usage, the

Nevada Legislature The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislature in ...

created the Las Vegas Valley Water District in 1947 to begin using the state's

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allocation. The

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

agreed to sell LVL&W in 1952 and the Water District began operations on July 1, 1954. The district's first major undertaking is one of the most important achievements in Southern Nevada's history: the district created facilities to bring water from Lake Mead to the valley. This relieved an ongoing water shortage for the city, but also helped create one of the world's most popular resort destinations and America's youngest major metropolitan area. Over the years, the district has built more than 6,500 miles of pipeline, created a reservoir system capable of storing 900 million gallons of water and implemented a sophisticated water-quality monitoring program.

References

External links

Las Vegas Valley Water District website

Southern Nevada Water Project History, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
{{authority control 1954 establishments in Nevada Government agencies established in 1954 Government of Clark County, Nevada Public utilities of the United States Water management authorities in the United States