From the Civil Law Doctrine to the reasonable use theory and from the frontier thesis to community action: Flood control in Las Vegas, Nevada, 1905-1976

Flood control has long been a major problem for southwestern boom towns, and Las Vegas was no exception. From its birth in 1905 until the mid 1970s, the "Civil Law Doctrine" was the legal concept used by courts and residents to settle disputes over drainage problems; This paper will argue that the court's decision to change the guiding legal principle from the Civil Law Doctrine to the Reasonable Use Rule in Nevada ended the frontier viewpoint of individualism and replaced it with a new spirit of communal action. The legal revolution, along with a series of events tied to the valley's mushrooming urbanization energized the long dormant Las Vegas Valley Flood Control District which quickly won support in 1986 for implementing the flood control agenda. While emphasizing the legal dimension the paper will place the court ruling within the context of the city's urban sprawl and the growing political sentiment favoring flood control. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1993

Author dc:creator

• Scholl, James L

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jay Coughtry

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/270

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1269