The War Effort to Water the Desert
Federal officials eye the extension of the Sunnyside Canal to bring thousands of parched acres into cultivation for the national food supply.
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Thousands of acres of fertile lands tributary to this city are now likely to be brought under cultivation by the government as part of the national food preparedness campaign. The Kennewick extension of the Sunnyside canal is to be rushed to completion if plans of the reclamation commission are carried through. Engineer Ferd Bone and his crew have arrived in Kennewick to begin a survey. If work is rushed this fall and winter, it is estimated that 10,000 acres can be ready for cultivation next spring, and 20,000 acres the following year. The Northern Pacific Railroad company will cooperate with the government in placing the lands on the market at a price attractive to the home builder.
“There is no higher class of lands in the Northwest and they could be successfully cropped the first year.”
This project was a major catalyst for the transformation of the Tri-Cities into a dominant agricultural region. Today, the tension between federal land development, railroad corporate interests, and irrigation water rights remains a central theme in Washington's political landscape.
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