The Judge Turned Off Tacoma’s Water
An unpaid condemnation judgment gave one man the power to shut down the city’s creeks—and the fashionable North End faced a water famine.
Tacoma, March 4.—Special.—Judge Parker this afternoon granted the prayer of Robert P. Rigney for an injunction restraining the city from taking the waters of Clover and Spanaway creeks until the judgment of $14,280 obtained in the condemnation proceedings is fully paid. Only $7,280 has been paid, the city having given notice of appeal on the remaining $7,000. The injunction cuts off about 3,000,000 gallons daily of the city's water supply, and will cause a water famine in the fashionable north end if it continues in force. The city has filed a motion for a stay of proceedings based on the notice of appeal taken in the condemnation case, and has also appealed from the decision on the injunction.
The right to take the water from the springs was thought to be granted to the city when the Tacoma Light & Water Company sold the plant.
“The injunction cuts off about 3,000,000 gallons daily of the city's water supply, and will cause a water famine in the fashionable north end if it continues in force.”
The fight was over who controlled Tacoma’s water and who had to pay for it. More than a century later, Tacoma Public Utilities still owns the system, but water rights, condemnations and rate fights remain live civic questions across Puget Sound.
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