The Hanford Ditch War Goes Federal
A power and irrigation utility takes the state to court to fight regulated water rates, signaling a long battle over regional infrastructure.
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.
Attorney M. M. Moulton of Kennewick and Lon Boyle of Prosser represented the Hanford water users in their action before the Public Service Commission to secure a reduction in irrigation charges. Now, the Consumer’s Ditch Company has taken the case to federal court. The company, through its attorney Elmer E. Todd of Seattle, has asked for an injunction against the enforcement of the commission’s order, which set the irrigation rate at $4.80 per acre for the 1916 season. The utility claims that the commission’s valuation of the ditch at $100,000 and the resulting rate structure are unreasonable and amount to unlawful confiscation. The company cites a $10,000 deficit from the previous season and warns that the new rates will push that deficit even higher. The suit, filed in the federal court at North Yakima, names members of the Public Service Commission and 32 water users who originally brought the complaint.
“The plaintiff corporation shows that the cost of furnishing service to the water users for the season of 1915 was $35,000, and that the total charge was $24,562, leaving a deficit of over $10,000.”
The struggle over the Hanford irrigation system in 1916 mirrors contemporary regional battles over water rights, public utility regulation, and the tension between corporate infrastructure owners and the communities that depend on their resources. This fight for affordable water in the arid Tri-Cities region remains a persistent theme in local civic discourse.
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