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1938: Water Supply

With the growth of cities and communities, the supplying of water to them has become an important problem. No longer do wells, small local reservoirs, or towers answer the requirements; but, instead, complete water systems are required, necessitating the building of dams, tunnels, and aqueducts, frequently to bring water from many miles, and requiring also equipment for treating the water so it can be safely drunk. Work on many systems was started prior to 1938 and continued through the year; among them, water systems for Boston, Mass., Los Angeles, Calif., and New York City.

Several large contracts on the Delaware aqueduct which, on completion, will bring water from the upper Delaware River to New York City, were let by New York's Board of Water Supply. The water system will include also reservoirs and tunnels that will take several years to complete; estimated cost about $275,000,000.

After a careful study of present and future water-supply conditions of Salt Lake City, Utah, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the City agreed upon a plan, which includes building a storage reservoir on Provo River and bringing water to the City through a 40-mile conduit. The dam for the reservoir will be an earthfill structure 155 ft. high and about 1,400 ft. long.

Contracts including the building of tunnels, dams, and reservoirs were awarded on the Mono Basin project and the Los Angeles aqueduct and distributing system; estimated costs $10,000,000. Besides the work just mentioned, other water-supply contracts were let by the Metropolitan Water District, Los Angeles, which also proposes to build a 17½-mile pipe line and reservoir in Palos Verdes hills to serve Compton, Torrance, and Long Beach.

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