Kennewick Valley Farmers Move to Buy Their Irrigation System
After decades of friction, local growers organize an irrigation district to take control of their water supply from a private company.
Plans whereby the water users propose to take over the irrigation system of the Northern Pacific Irrigation company have been maturing rapidly. The first legal step toward the organization of an irrigation district has been taken. A petition asking that such a district be created and outlining its boundaries has been signed by 50 qualified water users and will be presented to the board of county commissioners on November 26. The committee reported that the N. P. I. had tentatively agreed to turn over the system for $75,000, taking bonds of the district in payment. This sum represents the value of the appropriated but unused water. All seemed agreed that nothing could be accomplished until the water users have a legal body through which they can act as a unit.
“All seemed agreed that nothing could be accomplished until the waterusers have some legal body thru which they can act as a unit.”
The transition from private water monopolies to local irrigation districts was a defining struggle for the development of the Columbia Basin. Today’s Kennewick Irrigation District remains the legacy of this exact push for local autonomy over essential resources.
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