The Fight for Walla Walla's Subterranean Water
City officials and private landowners clash over the future of the municipal water supply at the Thomas Ranch.
The owners of the Thomas land want the city either to buy half or all the ranch at a fancy price or else abandon its ten thousand dollar right to all the subterranean water on the farm. Either plan will mean a few thousand dollars more in the pockets of the owners of the ranch. The people still have their own opinion as to who is the real owner of the ranch and of the wires that are being pulled to induce the city to accept a solution of the water problem that will be satisfactory to certain selfish interests. Notwithstanding the report of Hydraulic Engineer Weile that the only available source of supply for a gravity system is Mill Creek, men of sound judgment still believe that there is abundance of water beneath the surface of the Thomas ranch to supply a city of ten times the present population of Walla Walla. Any scheme that proposes the abandonment of the city's rights at Thomas Springs will be overwhelmingly defeated by the people.
“Any scheme that proposes the abandonment of the city's rights at Thomas springs will be overwhelmingly defeated by the people.”
Water rights and the privatization of essential infrastructure remain at the forefront of municipal politics. This 1903 struggle mirrors contemporary debates in the region over who controls local resources as the population grows.
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