Hanford Settlers Win Fight for Cheaper Water
After a hard-fought battle, the state Public Service Commission slashes irrigation rates for Hanford farmers, promising a new era of development.
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The state Public Service commission last week issued an order reducing the Consumer's Ditch company irrigation rate at Hanford from $7 an acre to $4.60 for 32 inches of water. A motion to amend the complaint in order to include a refund of excess charges was granted subject to further hearing on the amounts claimed. In readjusting the rate, the commission includes 2,654 acres of uncultivated land owned by the Agathon Land company, on a pro rata basis of paying maintenance expense charges. The company claimed that this land was not subject to maintenance fees as it was sold to the Agathon company free and clear of any water rights. The water users contended that this acreage was a part of the original Hanford project and as such should pay its pro rata of the irrigation cost. The Consumers’ Ditch company, the Agathon company and the Black Rock Power company are the three companies between which the holdings of the old Hanford Irrigation Power company were divided after they were purchased at receiver’s sale by eastern interests. The commission’s ruling will furnish relief to the Hanford settlers and will probably result in considerable development and improvement.
“The commission’s ruling will furnish relief to the Hanford settlers and will probably result in considerable development.”
Water rights and the financial burden of maintenance fees have been a persistent conflict in the arid Yakima Valley. This 1916 struggle for fair rates predates the massive government transformation of the Hanford area, highlighting that even before the nuclear age, the fight for control over local water was a defining civic struggle.
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