Walla Walla Weighs Water Rights Against Costly Lawsuits
A legal dispute over riparian rights forces the city to weigh the cost of a new gravity system against the risk of massive damages.
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.
According to the opinion of Gose & Gose, submitted to the water committee of the Commercial Club, the city is liable for suits regarding the infringement of riparian rights regardless of whether a new gravity system takes water from the Thomas ranch or Mill Creek. The burden of proof lies with those claiming damages, but there is less liability involved in tapping subterranean sources on the Thomas ranch compared to diverting water twelve or fifteen miles up Mill Creek. The city is liable for such damages even when only percolating underground water is used. The only way to preempt these lawsuits is through the exercise of eminent domain. It is clear that owning the land would not grant the city additional rights beyond those already held under the deed from the late Alfred Thomas. While a landowner may use percolating waters for local improvements and crops, they cannot divert that water to supply an entire city. If riparian owners raise valid protests, the city must utilize eminent domain. Economically, the Thomas Springs proposition appears cheaper than the Weile Mill Creek plan. Developing the springs could provide immediate fire protection for the business district and serve higher residence areas currently lacking sufficient pressure. However, abandoning the system purchased three years ago for $250,000 would be an indefensible outrage to taxpayers, and it remains unclear how the city could legally finance the $250,000 cost of the Weile scheme plus $100,000 in potential damages.
“It is always well to look before a leap is taken and the taxpayers of this city will certainly take a good long look at their ballots before they will vote more than $100,000 for a betterment of the present water supply.”
Walla Walla’s struggle to balance fiscal responsibility with infrastructure upgrades remains a constant. Today’s municipal bond and budget debates echo these 1903 concerns about whether to patch existing utilities or pivot to expensive, potentially litigious new water sources.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.