A Valley Votes to Hold Back the Water
Property owners in the proposed Calispel Diking District No. 1 unanimously back a 5,250-acre flood-control district and elect three commissioners.
VOTE IN FAVOR DIKE
Residents of District No. 1 Are Unanimous in the Matter.
Commissioners Are Chosen.
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the residents of the proposed Calispel Diking District No. 1 voted on the question of forming a legal diking district, and to the pleasure of those who have promoted the project it was found that there was a unanimous vote cast in favor of the plan.
The following were elected commissioners with authority to proceed with the organization and the perfection of plans for the work: F. A. Purchase, D. K. Atherton and E. L. Wonch.
This district comprises 5,250 acres lying north of Cusick, between the Calispel River and Tacoma Creek. It is the first of several proposed districts to get under headway with the project. That its residents and property owners are unanimous in favoring the movement speaks well for the success of their effort to protect themselves and property from the ravages of high water.
“That its residents and property owners are unanimous in favoring the movement speaks well for the success of their effort to protect themselves and property from the ravages of high water.”
Flood-control districts are still how rural communities organize to protect land, roads and buildings, and this unanimous 1908 vote shows how high water shaped settlement in the Pend Oreille Valley. The same questions—who pays for water management and who benefits—remain familiar in Newport-area infrastructure debates.
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