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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 5 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 7 |
| 1862 | 6 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 12 |
| 1876 | 121 |
| 1877 | 92 |
| 1878 | 78 |
| 1879 | 6 |
| 1880 | 14 |
| 1882 | 19 |
| 1883 | 114 |
| 1884 | 45 |
| 1885 | 96 |
| 1886 | 47 |
| 1887 | 57 |
| 1888 | 47 |
| 1889 | 205 |
| 1890 | 43 |
| 1891 | 162 |
| 1892 | 350 |
| 1893 | 323 |
| 1894 | 226 |
| 1895 | 277 |
| 1897 | 8 |
| 1898 | 24 |
| 1899 | 60 |
| 1900 | 6 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 129 |
| 1904 | 130 |
| 1905 | 33 |
| 1907 | 9 |
| 1908 | 41 |
| 1909 | 141 |
| 1910 | 24 |
| 1911 | 16 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 29 |
| 1915 | 35 |
| 1916 | 79 |
| 1917 | 30 |
| 1918 | 8 |
| 1919 | 2 |
| 1923 | 21 |
| 1924 | 20 |
| 1925 | 8 |
3,221 stories matching water
- A City Accused of Stealing Its Water by Night
A rancher with an injunction, a mayor at the end of his borrowing power, and a reservoir that empties at dusk and fills by dawn: Tacoma's fight over Clover Creek water becomes a standoff between the city and the man who owns the creek.
- Tacoma's Water Was Cut Off by a Court Order—and the City Went Looking for Wells
A judge holds Tacoma officials in contempt for ignoring an injunction over Clover and Spanaway creeks, forcing the city to shut off a major source and scramble for gulch water and Northern Pacific wells.
- Seattle's 1895 Warning: Secure Cedar River Water Before Private Speculators Do
City Engineer R. H. Thomson says Seattle's overworked pumps cannot survive another summer and urges the city to buy the Cedar River watershed, dams and reservoir sites while it still can.
- Seattle's Bid to Be the Liverpool of America
In 1895, boosters imagined a Lake Washington ship canal turning Puget Sound into a freshwater harbor for world commerce, coal trade, and naval power.
- The Healing Lake That Hid a Walking Fish
On the Columbia plateau near Spokane lies a strange saline lake with no inlet and no outlet — credited with curing rheumatism, foaming like soap in the wind, and home to an axolotl that fooled the naturalists.
- Seattle Cut Water Rates—Then Claimed the Lake
In one night at City Hall, the council trimmed water bills for every ratepayer and got legal cover to take Lake Washington water, even if it meant digging its own canal past a private company.
- The Water Under Walla Walla
As the city weighs Mill Creek against artesian wells, old-timers warn that riparian lawsuits could drown the project.
- Walla Walla's Water War: Springs, a Bank, and a $250,000 Bond
In December 1903, an editorial backed Councilman Glasford's plan to use Thomas Springs rather than buy bank-owned ranch land or bond for Mill Creek water.
- A Valley Drowns Every Spring—and One Farmer Wants a Better Dike
A correspondent warns that the Pend Oreille freshet has wrecked $50,000 worth of Calispel Valley crops—and argues the proposed diking districts are too piecemeal to save the basin.
- Tacoma's $1.75 Million Water Deal Went Bad—and Taxpayers Were Just Catching On
A special dispatch from Tacoma reports that the city's purchase of the old water plant was sold on a false promise of mountain water, while a new bidder offers a cheaper gravity system.
- The Fight for Clear Water Rights
A new commission report proposes sweeping changes to ensure farmers and businesses can finally secure legal titles to their water.
- When the Skagit River Swallowed Mount Vernon: The Great Flood of 1894
A sudden heat wave melted mountain snow, sending rivers over their banks and putting whole towns underwater. In Mount Vernon, 300 men fought a losing battle against the rising Skagit.
- The Shipworm Eating Seattle’s Waterfront
Wharf owners were spending a fortune fighting a saltwater pest. The fix: fill the tide flats, cut freshwater waterways, and make the harbor safe for pilings—and insurance.
- Tacoma's Two-Million-Dollar Question: Buy the Water Works, or Fix the Sewers?
On the eve of a bond vote, Tacoma's taxpayers are told they can have the private water and electric plant and new sewers too. The arithmetic says otherwise: after the purchase, $3,707 is left for sewers.
- When Seattle's Taps Ran Dry, One Citizen Took the City to Task
A resident of the city's eastern heights petitions the Seattle City Council over empty pipes, fire risk, and water bills—with sarcasm aimed at every authority from City Hall to the White House.
- Use It or Lose It: Washington’s 1917 Water Rights Showdown
A proposed state water code would end speculation in stream rights and force landowners to put water to work—or forfeit the claim.
- The Great Tacoma Water Grift
How a corrupt water monopoly swindled the city out of nearly $1.5 million for a tainted water supply, leaving residents with a decade of filth.
- Seven Months at Sea: The State of Maine’s Ordeal
The State of Maine left New York in July 1892 and reached Seattle 201 days later, her crew disabled by saltwater boils, her water spoiled, and her captain forced to beat men to the pumps.
- The Water Department War: Seattle’s Ex-Superintendent Says the City Burned $15,000
W. E. Wilson takes his successor to task over pumping-station costs, missing pipe miles, and a board of public works appointment he calls the reward for fiscal failure.
- Tacoma's $700,000 Water Deal Springs a Leak — and the Taxpayers Ask Who Pays
The city bought a water and light plant that delivers a fraction of what it promised. Now a suit is threatened, a superintendent's job looks 'cut and dried,' and a ratepayer on the outskirts wants to know why he must pay for water he cannot get.
- The Canal That Would Make Seattle an Island
In 1883, surveyors proposed locks and canals linking Lake Union and Lake Washington to tidewater—so coal could move by water and Seattle could 'practically stand on an island.'
- The Deadbeats Who Were Stealing Seattle's Water
An 1895 water department report found the city pumping far more water per person than other cities—and a thriving traffic in illegal hookups, hidden leaks, and unpaid bills.
- Tacoma's Water Chief Accused—and the City Hall Feud Behind It
Mayor Orr's appointment of George H. Hollidge to run Tacoma's water and light plants blew up into a public corruption fight, with secret affidavits, anonymous postal cards and a grand jury waiting.
- Olympia’s Booster Year: Brick, Bridges and a 50,000-Person Promise
As 1891 closed, the capital city counted $3 million in new buildings, a record bridge, electric lights and new rail lines — and predicted 50,000 residents within a decade.
- When the Taps Ran Dry: Seattle's 1894 Water Famine
City council rations water as Renton Heights residents go without during a dry summer, passing a joint resolution to restrict use and hire an extra inspector.
Also about this, in other words
- Everett Pushes for a City-Owned Water System
Advocates argue that water is a public necessity, not a commodity for private corporate profit.
- Seattle’s Thirst: A Winter Warning
A deep freeze has exposed the city's crumbling, inadequate water infrastructure.
- The Pioneer Struggle for Seattle’s Water Supply
In 1876, the city of Seattle debated whether water should be a public utility or a private asset, setting the stage for decades of infrastructure fights.
- City Moves to Solve Long-Standing Water Crisis
Walla Walla's City Council hires a Spokane engineer to secure the city’s future water supply, bypassing local land speculators.
- The Desert’s Promise in Wenatchee
Impatience grows as the city council moves to bond the town to pull water from the Columbia River, hoping to turn brush land into a fruit-growing empire.
- The Right to Water: A Legal Win for Landowners
A landmark court ruling frees White Bluffs landowners from paying for irrigation water they did not use, potentially signaling the end for the local water company.
- An Hydraulic Solution to Snohomish’s Water Woes
Innovation at the eastern edge of town brings running water to the school house flat.
- The Struggle for Water: Seattle’s 1889 Great Rebuilding
While the city charred in the aftermath of the Great Fire, citizens turned their eyes to a vital, contentious civic project: building a public water system.