Washington (State). Dept. of Conservation and Development.

The Constitution of the State of Washington states that "The use of the waters of the state for irrigation, mining and manufacturing shall be deemed a public use." (Art. XXI, Sec. 1). Public use meant that no private individual or company could deny the use of rivers, streams, lakes, etc. to others, and that irrigation, mining and manufacturing projects which used public waters would be monitored by public (government) agencies. To put this rather vague concept into practice, a law was passed in the 1889-90 session of the Legislature, ". . . providing for the organization and government of irrigation districts and the sale of bonds therefrom." Essentially, the law allowed a group of citizens to petition their neighbors and with the consent of everyone affected, form a public corporation which could sell bonds and improve the land through the construction of small dams, canals, and whatever else was necessary for an irrigation system. The intent of the law was to speed the expansion of agriculture in Washington with infusions of capital through the sale of bonds. Also during the 1889-90 session a law was passed to allow the construction of "dykes" and ditch systems to drain fields and prevent flooding. In 1895 the legislature passed "An act to provide for the establishment and creation of diking districts, and the construction and maintenance of a system of dikes. . ." As with the irrigation districts, the diking districts could sell bonds. Both irrigation and diking districts reported to the commissioners of the county in which they were located. The county would verify the results of the vote for the formation of a district and could monitor the sale of bonds, which could be for no more than the initial value of the land involved, before improvement. In 1907 the diking districts were revised to also include the revision of streams and rivers as necessary to enhance land reclamation projects. In 1915 the powers of diking districts were enlarged to specifically include drainage projects. Irrigation district structure was also changed in 1915, to allow for the construction of power plants, dams and other works, and to allow the irrigation districts to cooperate with each other and with agencies of the U.S. government on irrigation projects. By 1917 there was such a profusion of irrigation, diking and drainage districts, and so much litigation concerning water rights, that the legislature passed the Water Code to establish some sort of centralized control. The 1917 act provided that control of all water within the state would be under the administration of the State Hydraulic Engineer. His job was to coordinate, inspect and control all water projects, and to set up local water districts with "Water Masters" reporting to him. The office of Hydraulic Engineer was one of the many small state agencies involved in the 1921 reorganization of state government. Along with the divisions of Geology, Forestry, Reclamation and others, the Hydraulic Engineer became part of the Dept. of Conservation and Development, which was later renamed the Dept. of Conservation.