THE IEEIGATION AGE. 



139 



THE YAKIMA VALLEY. 



Where Irrigation Has Wrought Miracles. 



BY JOHN EDWARD BUCK. 



Of all the irrigated sections through which we have 

 traversed thus far, the Yakima valley looks the most 

 prosperous and the most picturesque. In the Yakima 

 country one can see the desert before the ditches are 

 dug, and the fertile fields under irrigation. The whole 



The Yakima valley stands pre-eminent in the arid 

 West for the plentitude of its water supply; the water- 

 shed of the Yakima river and its tributaries consists 

 of a portion of the eastern slope of the Cascade range; 

 the annual snow fall on the range is heavy, and the 

 higher ranges are covered with it quite late into the 

 summer, while the peaks are perpetually white ; com- 

 pared with such water sheds as that of the Missouri 

 river, for instance, that of the Yakima is very small, 

 but a comparison of the two streams shows the remark- 

 ably large volume of water that flows from its relatively 



Wild Horse Falls Washington County, Idaho. 



Yakima valley is rapidly being transformed into a highly 

 cultivated region. 



Small farms are the rule in irrigated districts, be- 

 cause irrigation makes intensive farming necessary. A 

 high type of civilization is also found in irrigated sec- 

 tions, because the denser population made necessary by 

 small farms leads to the introduction of modern im- 

 provements and tends toward a distinct uplift in the 

 trend of social influences. Isolated farming communi- 

 ties in older and less populous regions do not, of course, 

 enjoy such advantages. 



small watershed. This discharge can be, and will be, 

 largely increased by storage. The larger streams head 

 and are fed in a measure by mountain lakes some of 

 which are of considerable magnitude and all of which 

 are natural storage reservoirs, capable of conserving an 

 immense volume of water, for all of which there will be 

 need, as the area of irrigable land in the Yakima valley 

 is very large. 



It may be said that the Yakima valley is in various 

 stages of development. Portions of it are highly de- 

 veloped and equipped with every modern improvement. 



