The Desert Blooms: Ellensburg's Massive Irrigation Project
A multi-million dollar canal project is set to transform thousands of acres of sagebrush into fertile farmland, signaling an era of prosperity for Kittitas Valley.
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.
Although the Kittitas valley has a splendid reputation for productiveness, only a small portion is under cultivation. The people have been well aware that water was their greatest need, but the great fire which destroyed Ellensburg on July 4, 1889, impoverished them. Now, a company organized in Tacoma with a capital of $1,000,000 is building a canal around the east side of the valley, which will bring from 100,000 to 125,000 additional acres of land into cultivation. The source of the water supply will be lakes Kachees and Kitchelar and the Yakima river. The canal will be 82 miles long, 24 feet wide at the bottom, and 8 feet deep. The most difficult part of the undertaking is the mountain division, where the crossing of the Yakima river alone will cost about $25,000. J. A. McDonald of Anacortes is the contractor, and he has been sub-letting the work in small sections to give local farmers and workingmen an opportunity to earn money. Since the work commenced, business has been better than at any time within the past three years.
“Irrigation is king, and his majesty will be found doing business in Kittitas, the gem valley of Eastern Washington, for all time to come.”
This 1893 irrigation push highlights the historical obsession with 'taming' the arid landscapes of Eastern Washington to support agricultural expansion. Today, the management of these water rights remains a contentious intersection of climate change, tribal treaty rights, and urban versus agricultural demand.
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