Population 



The first permanent white settlement 

 In the Wenatchee Valley was made in 1872, 

 just north of the present City of Wenatchee. 

 Early settlement was retarded by the Icick 

 of transportation facilities. With the 

 coming of the Great Northern Railroad in 

 1893, growth was very much stimulated. 

 Cities and towns such as Leavenworth, Cash- 

 mere, and Wenatchee have grown up where the 

 plentiful water from snow- fed mountain 

 streams is availabile for irrigation of the 

 fertile lands in the sunny valley. The 

 steady growth of the area is indicated in 

 table 2 which shows the population growth 

 for the City of Wenatchee. 



At the present time the population is 

 almost entirely confined to the irrigated 

 lower valley. The estimated population in 

 April 1955 for the entire Wenatchee River 

 Basin was 30,000. It is evident that the 

 population density of the watershed is very 

 low. Excluding the population of the City 



Table 2. 



-Population growth of the 

 City of Wenatchee. 



Based on U. S. Census Reports. 



of Wenatchee, it is estimated to be about 

 10 persons per square mile. 



This has an important bearing on the 

 quality of thewiter flowing from the basin. 

 Usually mcUi's activities, such a^ logging, 

 mining, grazing, farming, and manufacturing, 

 disturb the balance of nature in a watershed 

 and have a detrimental effect on the water 

 qu?Llity. 



Sewage from municipalities also can 

 alter the character of the water in a stream. 

 The result of sewage pollution usually de- 

 pends upon the quantity and strength of the 

 waste in relation to the quantity and char- 

 acter of the receiving water. The sources 

 of municipal sewage to the Wenatchee River 

 are shown in table 3. 



It is worthy of note that while the 

 City of Wenatchee has no sewage treatment 

 facilities, the discharge of raw sewage from 

 the city- is into the Columbia River and has 

 no effect on the Wenatchee River. 



The other sources of domestic 

 sewage listed in table 3 have a det- 

 rimental effect on the bacteriological 

 quality of the Wenatchee River. This 

 investigation revealed that they do 

 not alter the physical and chemical 

 character appreciably. 



Industry 



The leading industry in the 

 Wenatchee River Basin is fruit pro- 

 duction. 



Table 3. — Sewage discharge to Wenatchee River, 



\/ Sewage probably enters Wenatchee River. 

 From: Jensen and Vogel, 1954. 



Mining is relatively unimportant 

 at the present time. The major ores 

 previously mined were gold, silver 

 and copper, with most of the mines 

 being located in the Blewett Pass and 

 upper Chiwawa River areas. 



The principal mills of the logging 

 and lumbering industry are located at 

 Peshastin, Cashmere and Wenatchee. 

 The cut is mainly ponderosa pine, 

 which is used principally for fruit 

 box manufacturing —' . 



1/ "The geography of the Wenatchee 

 River Basin" by Tim Kenneth 

 Kelley. Master's thesis, Uni- 

 versity of Washington, Seattle. 



1940. 79 pp. 



