The Water Monopoly Standing Between Yakima and Its Best Orchards
A fruit grower warns that the Washington Irrigation Company’s control of reservoir sites could block the high-line ditch needed to open Yakima County’s frost-safe uplands to orchards.
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.
It has been hoped that by means of government aid a high-line ditch would be constructed in Yakima County, and in this way a large amount of the best fruit land in the state would be brought into cultivation. But it seems that this hope is not to be realized very soon, if at all, owing to the fact that the Washington Irrigation Company owns the land around the lakes where reservoirs have to be built. It is claimed that this company promises to build the reservoirs and do the work which the government was expected to do. This is a delusive hope. The Washington Irrigation Company may build reservoirs and enlarge its present canal, but it will not build any high-line ditch. And this is the very thing needed to bring into cultivation the best fruit land in Yakima County. It is well known by us, who are engaged in fruit growing in this county, that the higher up we get, the safer we are from damaging frosts at blooming time. The land, therefore, that lies above the present canal must be far better for fruit growing than what lies below it. This valuable tract of land will lie there an unsightly waste unless the government takes hold of this project and builds a high-line ditch. The people of Yakima County should wake up on this matter, and leave no stone unturned to secure government aid. The Washington Irrigation Company has done a great deal to reclaim a large tract of dry land in Yakima County, some of which is valuable for fruit, and some not. If we wait for that company to reclaim the valuable fruit land lying above its canal we will miss the opportunity of making Yakima County famous for its best orchards. This company, in securing control of the lakes at the head of the Yakima River, has probably done what any other company or individual would have done under the circumstances, but their act is a menace to the development of fruit growing in Yakima County, nevertheless. The writer of these notes has no personal interest in this land above the present canal, and is not seeking to secure any, but he knows the situation and would warn the people of Yakima County of the danger and urge them not to be misled by plausible promises that mean nothing towards the recovery of this valuable fruit land.
“This company, in securing control of the lakes at the head of the Yakima river, has probably done what any other company or individual would have done under the circumstances, but their act is a menace to the development of fruit growing in Yakima county, nevertheless.”
In Yakima today, water rights and the cost of irrigation still determine which land can be farmed and who profits from it. The 1903 warning also echoes current debates over private control of public infrastructure and whether public money should open land for agriculture or speculation.
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