Richland Cleans Up Its Forgotten Ditch
Stagnant water and mosquito breeding grounds prompt urgent civic repairs in districts three and seven.
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 old drainage ditch which runs from a point near the Yakima river south of town, to a point entering the new ditch just being completed north of town, has, from long neglect by not being cleaned out, become quite a nuisance with its noisome smells and mosquito breeding proclivities. This ditch lies in the consolidated districts of numbers 3 and 7, and, as there is some money available, between $1000 and $2000 for improvements in this district, steps are being taken to use some of the money in increasing the flow of water. Engineer C. D. Mitchell was at work with his assistants last week in surveying the way and staking the grades. It is expected that work will begin soon, as it is of such a nature that it must be done in the warm weather. Property owners under this ditch are highly pleased to think that something is to be done, as they are of the opinion that with an increased flow it will reclaim some of the land now gone to waste, and prevent further damage now being done by land gradually becoming alkalied.
“It has become quite a nuisance with its noisome smells and mosquito breeding proclivities.”
Managing irrigation and drainage to prevent soil salinization remains a critical issue for the arid agricultural lands of the Tri-Cities today. While modern infrastructure has improved significantly since 1915, the fundamental challenge of maintaining water flow in a landscape defined by desert irrigation persists.
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