Award Date

1-1-1993

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Committee Member

Jay Coughtry

Number of Pages

99

Abstract

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.).

Keywords

Action; Civil; Community; Control; Doctrine; Flood; Frontier; Law; Nevada; Reasonable; Theory; Thesis; Vegas; Las Vegas

Controlled Subject

City planning; Law

File Format

pdf

File Size

3676.16 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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