Valley Ranchers Organize to Dike the Pend Oreille: A $40,000 Flood Control District Proposed
About 25 landowners met at Gifford's ranch to sign a petition for a diking district covering nearly 10,000 acres, aiming to protect their fields from the river's annual overflow.
About 25 ranchers and property owners met at Gifford's ranch, about three miles north of Cusick, on Monday afternoon, to discuss the question of forming a diking district to protect their lands from the overflow of the Pend Oreille River.
A petition was drawn up asking the county commissioners to form the district. This petition was signed by parties owning more than a majority of the land in the proposed district and will be presented to the commissioners on July 6. They will ask that the land from the foothills near the head of the Calispel River, along the said river to the Pend Oreille River, then along the Pend Oreille River front in a northerly direction to the mouth of Tacoma Creek, then back along that stream to the foothills again, and along the foothills to the place of beginning, be included in the district. This territory will include about 23 sections of land, or nearly 10,000 acres of land. If the prayer of the petitioners is granted, an election will be held and three commissioners selected who will have charge of the work. It is the plan to dike the boundaries of the district along the streams and riverfront to a point as high as generally reached by the flood water of the Pend Oreille River. The estimated cost of the work is about $40,000, and bonds will be issued to cover the improvement.
Fleming Randolph, the civil engineer of this city, was in attendance at the meeting, and says that the land owners were all favorable to the improvement.
A meeting was held on Saturday at Cusick, attended by owners of land in the vicinity of Cusick and Usk. The question of forming a diking district was discussed, but the owners of the land thought that the government should assist in paying for the work. They also thought it probable that the Idaho & Washington Northern would assist in bearing a portion of the expense of the dikes, if that road should decide to construct their line on the west side of the river. No decision was arrived at.
“The estimated cost of the work is about $40,000, and bonds will be issued to cover the improvement.”
Flood control remains a pressing issue in the Pend Oreille Valley, where residents still grapple with seasonal flooding. The story echoes modern debates over who should pay for infrastructure—local landowners, government, or private interests like the railroad—and how communities organize to protect their land.
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