The Desert to Bloom: Federal Engineers Back Massive Irrigation Plan
A definitive federal study deems the Columbia Basin project physically and economically sound, signaling a potential turn in the state’s agricultural future.
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The report of the federal engineers who have been investigating the Columbia Basin irrigation project stamps approval on the proposed reclamation of the great semi-arid portion in the south central part of the State of Washington. The board is convinced that the project is physically feasible and that the cost of land and water will be less than on many projects where land is held in private ownership. Six alternate proposals are made by the engineers, with three lakes as sources of supply: Pend Orielle, Coeur d’Alene, and Priest. Hervey Lindley of Seattle, president of the league, expressed his pleasure, noting that the conclusions justify the faith which the people of the Northwest have maintained for six years.
“The report is splendid. The conclusions of the engineers justify the faith which our people of the Northwest have maintained for six years.”
This report laid the foundation for the Grand Coulee Dam and the modern agricultural transformation of the Columbia Basin. While the irrigation brought the promised prosperity, it fundamentally altered the hydrology of the region and the ancestral lands of Indigenous nations, issues that remain at the heart of modern Washington environmental and tribal rights debates.
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