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It all started in the middle 1800’s when Chief Kamakin near the Ahtanam Mission diverted some water from Ahtanam creek into a ditch to irrigate a small patch of corn.  Then starting in the 1860’s pioneers came into the Yakima Basin and began to put water on this arid land.  The magic of water applied to this rich soil then produced magnificent crops that in time made the Yakima Basin Crop Production famous and its people prosperous. 

It did not take long for our Government to realize that Infrastructure would be the key to causing success for the western movement of people towards this new land.  Transportation was the first step with new railroads established early to transport people, needed supplies, and produce to markets throughout the United States.

Here in the Yakima Basin the Railroad Companies quickly recognized that New Water Delivery systems would be required to open this new land to irrigation.  They brought Walter Granger into the Valley to explore the possibilities.  He got off a train in Yakima then rode a cayoose into the center of the Yakima Valley stopping on top of Cherry Hill, also know as Snipes Mountain, got off his Cayoose and looked north.  He studied the area, then reached down and picked up a sagebrush stick and drew two lines in the soil.  The bottom line represented what he called the low-line canal and the other line he called the high-line canal.  Today the low line is the Sunnyside Canal, and the highline is the Roza Canel both running parallel through the Yakima Valley just as Walter Granger envisioned back in the late 1800’s.  In fact he had 44 miles of the Sunnyside Canal built within five years with water available in the Sunnyside Canal to begin to irrigate this new land.

Our forefathers had all the plans laid out for new canal and reservoir systems to store and deliver water by 1908.  They had all six reservoirs that exist today built and in place by 1933.  The Yakima project consists of 6 storage dams and reservoirs to supplement the normal runoff from snowmelt in the Yakima River Basin.  The reservoirs are Bumping Lake (33,700 a/f), Clear Lake (5,300 a/f), Rimrock (Tieton) Lake (198,00 a/f), Kachess Lake (239,000 a/f), Keechelus Lake (157,900 a/f), and Lake Cle Elum (436,900 a/f).  As a result of a petition dated January 28, 1903, from citizens of Yakima County to the Secretary of the Interior presenting the very favorable opportunities for construction and development, investigations were initiated which led to the beginning of construction by the Reclamation Service.  The Sunnyside and Tieton Units were approved for construction in 1905.  Early in 1906, investigation of storage sites was initiated, including Bumping Lake, McAllister Meadows (Tieton Reservoir), and Cle Elum, Kachess, and Keechelus Lakes.

Construction of the Sunnyside Diversion Dam was completed October 17, 1907.  Development of the project progressed with the construction of Tieton Diversion Dam in 1908, Bumping Lake Dam in 1910, Kachess Dam in 1912, Clear Creek Dam in 1914, Keechelus Dam in 1917, Tieton (storage Dam in 1925, Easton Dam in 1929, Prosser Powerplant in 1932, Cle Elum Dam in 1933, Roza Diversion Dam in 1939, and Chandler Powerplant in 1956.  Distribution systems were built concurrently with the storage and diversion facilities.  Prosser Powerplant was retired in 1955, and Roza Powerplant was completed in 1958.

Construction of Kennewick Division facilities began in January 1953, and was completed in January 1958.  Cascade Irrigation District rehabilitation and betterment work began in February 1974 and was completed in May 1975.

Construction of the Phase I fish ladders and fish screens at the larger diversion dams and diversion canals began in 1984 and were completed in 1989.  Implementation of Phase II water conservation and other measures are pending completion of funding prerequisites.

The six reservoirs store 1,070,700 acre-feet of water for use in the Yakima Basin.  The Yakima Basin agriculture industry has entitlements of approximately 2,100,000 a/f of water annually with additional water needed for fisheries and municipal use.

One could say today that our forefathers knew what they had to do and went about accomplishing the construction of Infrastructure that still serves us today.

The whole Yakima Basin water delivery system was taken over and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation since shortly after the Reclamation Act came into being in the early 1900’s.  The Yakima Basin Irrigation Project was developed with stored water constituting less than half the water necessary to fulfill the entitlements authorized.  With approximately 1 million acre-feet of water in storage and 2.1 million acre-feet authorized, 1.1 million acre-feet must be provided from snow pack in the Cascades.  Over the years the snow pack has not met its requirement so fish, instream flow, agriculture, and municipal and industrial growth suffer.