The Fight to Protect Seattle’s Tap Water
A century ago, city engineers were already sounding the alarm about protecting the Cedar River watershed from industrial development and pollution to ensure a clean supply for a growing city.
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.
At last night's meeting of the city council, Mr. R. H. Thompson, the city engineer, submitted his report in regard to the Cedar River watershed, relative to both the quality of the water and the threats of pollution. He advised that immediate steps be taken to acquire the land strip around the lake, together with the beds and banks of Cedar River to the city intake. A change in the plan of the water system to the extent of making Cedar Lake an impounding reservoir is contemplated in the report. Mr. Thompson says: 'Public health and safety of the public demand that the city own the banks of Cedar River from the intake section to Cedar Lake, in order that no future development of whatever kind should make possible the pollution of a single drop of water offered our citizens for drink. I would, therefore, recommend the acquirement of the river and a strip of land averaging a quarter of a mile in width on both sides of said river between the intake and Cedar Lake.'
“Public health and safety of the public demand that the city own the banks of Cedar River... in order that no future development of whatever kind should make possible the pollution of a single drop of water.”
Thompson's 1899 plea to secure the Cedar River watershed reflects the foundational tension of Seattle's growth: the struggle between unbridled industrial expansion and the necessity of protected infrastructure. Today, the city’s reliance on the Cedar River remains the backbone of the region's water security, a system born from these early, contested land acquisitions.
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