History
In the Las Vegas Valley's early days, groundwater was plentiful
and overused.
Photo courtesy of UNLV Lied Library Special
Collections Department.
The Las Vegas Valley Water District is a not-for-profit agency that began providing water to the Las Vegas Valley in 1954. The Water District helped build the city's water delivery system and now provides water to more than 2 million people in Southern Nevada.
In 2009, the Las Vegas Valley Water District celebrated 55 years of service to our desert community.
A Railroad Town
In the early 1900s, Las Vegas was a hub for the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Railroad, a predecessor to 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 Colorado River Compact in 1922 allotted a small amount of Colorado River water to Southern Nevada. That supply went largely unused until 1942, when Basic Management Inc. (BMI) in Henderson began importing Lake Mead water from the Colorado River for industrial purposes. The rest of the valley continued to rely on groundwater supplies.
Water District created
By the mid-1940s, the small town of Las Vegas was facing a major water crisis. As population and water demand grew, city officials became more concerned about a dwindling groundwater supply.
Hoping to curb groundwater usage, the Nevada Legislature created the Las Vegas Valley Water District in 1947 to begin using the state's Colorado River allocation. The Union Pacific Railroad agreed to sell LVL&W in 1952 and the Water District began operations on July 1, 1954.
Making history
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.
From the beginning, the district has been committed to providing a safe, reliable water supply. Over the years, the district has built more than 4,100 miles of pipeline, created a reservoir system capable of storing 800 million gallons of water and implemented a sophisticated water-quality monitoring program.
Now serving more than a million people, customer service is an ongoing commitment as well, one that is reflected by our vision to be "People Leading the Way."
For major milestones in our history, see our timeline. Learn more about Las Vegas' cultural history at the Springs Preserve.