Draining the Squak Slough
A proposal for drainage work in the valley promises agricultural prosperity and potential water access for Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Having been one of the first to propose the plan of draining the Squak slough bottom under the ditch law, I feel called upon to correct an erroneous impression that has become current. The present plan is simply to do just enough work to drain our lands and no more. The ruling idea has all along been to 'take out the kinks' and to utilize as much of the old river channel as possible. The first consideration will be economical location and as cheap construction as is consistent with the object in view: a complete draining of the lands capable of being drained. By lowering Lake Washington four feet, Cedar river will flow into the lake, and Seattle will be able to secure comparatively pure water without going to the expense of constructing the gravitation system planned by Williams, involving an expense of millions of money. There is fully 2,500 acres of land so situated that it may be drained at a small cost as compared to the immense benefit to be derived. With drainage, it will become as valuable as the best land in the county.
“The ruling idea among the promoters of this present enterprise has all along been to 'take out the kinks'.”
This 1892 letter to the editor reflects the massive landscape engineering projects that defined Seattle's growth, including the later lowering of Lake Washington for the Ship Canal. It touches on the perennial civic tension of balancing public utility costs against regional development.
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