The Water Wars: Irrigation Company Agents Arrested for Sabotage
A desperate battle over water rights in the Yakima Valley turned explosive when engineers were caught dynamiting a rival company's dam.
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R. K. Tiffany, an engineer for the Washington Irrigation Co., and five associates have been arrested for attempting to wreck the Union Gap Co.'s dam at the outlet of Lake Cle Elum. One stick of dynamite was exploded before the arrest was made. The men were acting under orders of the ditch company's officials in starting the work. The dam below the intake of the reservation canal has also been torn out by agents of the same company. The Union Gap Co. is pushing criminal proceedings against the men, and irrigation matters up the valley are in a very mixed-up condition. Some think that the reclamation service views this situation with satisfaction, as conflicting rights will be settled and the government will know where they stand in regard to the amount of water each company is entitled to.
“The Union Gap Co. are pushing criminal proceedings against the men and irrigation matters up the valley are in a very mixed up condition.”
Conflicts over water rights in the arid Yakima and Columbia basins remain a central tension in Washington politics. While direct sabotage is rarer today, the struggle to reconcile the 'Reclamation Service' legacy with modern tribal and environmental water rights persists as a defining feature of the region's governance.
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