Water War Hits Federal Court
A legal fight over irrigation rights moves from local courts to the federal circuit, testing whether government officers can be overruled by state injunctions.
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.
When the injunction cases of the Prosser Falls Land and Water Co. against the Washington Irrigation Co., Jay Lynch, superintendent of the Yakima Indian reservation, Civil Engineer Redman, and other companies involved came up before the superior court in this city, a writ of certiorari was served on Superior Judge Rigg and County Clerk Day commanding them to turn over all papers in the case to the United States circuit court. The circuit court will decide whether state courts have jurisdiction. The question concerns whether government officers can be ruled by an injunction of a state court. United States District Attorney Avery of Spokane was present to represent the government. The cases will go to Spokane and may be tried by Judge Whitson in October.
“The question generally involved concerns the facts as to whether Lynch and Redman, in their position and duty as government officers can, in a case of this kind, be ruled by injunction of a state court.”
The struggle for water rights in the arid West has been a defining feature of Kennewick since its inception. This 1905 clash highlights the enduring complexity of navigating state-level regulation versus federal authority over tribal land and irrigation infrastructure.
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