The Fight for Tacoma’s Taps
As the city council hunts for a reliable water source, aggressive machinery lobbyists swarm City Hall, complicating the push for clean, deep-well water.
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The city council is taking energetic action in regard to an improved water supply. At its meeting last night, a committee was appointed to go to Seattle and inspect the Cedar River water system. Another committee was scheduled to inspect new city wells in South Tacoma in connection with the proposal to construct a system relying entirely on air-lift wells. Since the movement for pure water began, agents for various waterworks machinery have appeared, lobbying for their specific pumps. One aggressive solicitor proposes large 'open wells'—gigantic cisterns—which critics argue are prone to surface contamination and animal intrusion. Conversely, deeper air-lift wells, tapping artesian veins through impervious clay and sealed against surface runoff, are favored as safer and more productive. Mayor Wright has indicated a desire to push construction, and given public demand, Tacoma expects a pure water supply within the next twelve to fifteen months.
“The present city council shown no disposition to emulate the unsavory record of the council which imposed the Clover Creek abomination upon the people.”
Public control of water and infrastructure resilience remains a critical issue in Tacoma, reflecting the same tension between municipal oversight and private-interest lobbying seen over a century ago.
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