City Moves to Seize Water Rights for Public Power
Tacoma prepares legal action to secure land and water rights in the Nisqually Canyon for a municipal power plant.
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.
The city will take up the matter of passing an ordinance for the condemnation of the right-of-way and water rights needed for the municipal power project. Following the passage of the ordinance, the city attorney will file suits. Litigation in court between various power company speculators over the water rights in the Nisqually canyon will, according to city attorneys, cut no figure. The city will use them all, and when the jury determines the value of the property, the city will pay the money in court and let the other fellows fight for it.
“The city will use them all and when the jury determines the value of the property the city will pay the money in court and let the other fellows fight for it.”
Tacoma’s long-standing tradition of municipal power, Tacoma Power, was built on these early, aggressive battles to wrest control of regional water rights from private speculators. The tension between public utility ownership and private corporate control remains a staple of Northwest political discourse.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.