History

The history of soil conservation efforts in Kittitas County dates back to 1936 when serious topsoil erosion led to the establishment of a Soil Conservation Demonstration Project in the Badger Pocket area. The USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS), now the Natural Resource Conservation Service, worked in the project area as local support for a Valley wide conservation district that was established in 1942. In 1947 the Cle Elum District was established. In 1962 the Kittitas and Cle Elum Conservation Districts were combined to form the Kittitas County Conservation District.

KCCD PHOTO ARCHIVES

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Links to historic photos of agriculture in our region:

Orchard Yakima County, Washington, 1910

Panorama of fruit trees in Wenatchee Valley, near junction of Wenatchee River and Columbia River. Photographer: Asahel Curtis, ca. 1928.

Mundy home and vegetable garden, Kittitas Valley, Washington. Asahel Curtis, ca. 1937

Panorama of Ellensburg, with recently-laid tracks of Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Ry. in foreground

More information on historic agriculture practices in our region:

Fruit from Washington Historical Orchard Practices

Kittitas County Field Tour circa 1945

Irrigation

Earthen ditches were the traditional practice used by farmers in this area both for delivery canals and on-farm irrigation. On-farm irrigation in a dirt ditch typically involves installation of temporary fabric dams along portions of the ditch to raise water so it can flow out onto the cropland.

By the 1870s irrigated agriculture was well established in the Valley. Many private irrigation canals were constructed between 1872 and 1904. The earliest canals include the Manastash Ditch (1872), the Taneum Canal (1873) and the Olsen/Wold Ditch (1876). In 1885 the Ellensburg Water Company started the Town Ditch, the first of a series of larger canals. The Town Ditch was built in stages and was completed to its present 23-mile length by about 1892. The West Side Irrigating Company organized in 1889, began appropriating water from the Yakima River in 1890; this 17.5-mile canal was completed by 1895. The Cascade Canal was started in August 1903 and the 28 mile long Cascade Canal, which originally included flumes, tunnels and large earthen ditches, was completed by early 1904.