Benton City Prepares to Welcome the Canal
A day of speeches, picnics, and festivities marks the expansion of irrigation to the thirsty fields of Benton County.
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.
The completion of the Benton extension of the Sunnyside canal will be celebrated with appropriate ceremonies at Benton City on Saturday, May 29. Completion of the extension practically doubles the irrigated area around Benton City and will undoubtedly be followed by marked development in that section. A number of prominent men will take part in the program, and an entertaining and instructive day is expected. The program includes an inspection of the canal, an address by Governor Lister, and a 'Family basket dinner' at the local Grange hall. Afternoon sessions will cover the legal and economic future of irrigation, with speakers including irrigation experts from Washington, D.C., and railroad attorneys from Tacoma. The events will conclude with sports and athletics for all ages at the M. E. Church between Benton City and Kiona.
“The completion of the extension practically doubles the irrigated area around Benton City.”
The massive canal projects of the early 20th century transformed the arid shrub-steppe of the Tri-Cities into a massive agricultural engine. Today, those same water rights remain the lifeblood of the region, though they are now the subject of complex negotiations between climate change, conservationists, and the modern farming industry.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.