The Columbia Basin Project: Expectations, Realizations, Implications

Abstract

T HE Basin Project, construction of which was begun in the early 1930'S, was designed to be the nation's largest single irrigation project and its prime example of planned land use. In 1939 the Commissioner of Reclamation initiated a four-year program that was to become known as the Columbia Basin Joint Investigations.' These investigations were truly joint endeavors, since federal, state, and private agencies assisted the Bureau of Reclamation in its attempt to provide a sound plan for the settlement and development of the project area. Planning consultant for the Bureau and director of the joint investigations was Harlan H. Barrows, then chairman of the Department of Geography at the University of Chicago. Little more than a decade has elapsed since water was first brought to project lands, and already serious difficulties have been encountered. Development is virtually at a standstill, with less than half of the planned acreage under cultivation; and future growth is uncertain. Despite the best efforts of planners, unforeseen problems arise. In this project the problems are many and diverse. Any of them-for example, the provision of adequate drainage facilities at a reasonable cost, the size of farms, crop emphasis, or repayment of construction costs, to mention but a few-would be worthy of extended discussion. However, at a time when irrigation agriculture is undergoing ever-closer Congressional scrutiny, an overview of the Basin Project may indicate what future developments are to be expected in the field of reclamation. The project area (Fig. 1) is in the northwestern part of the Plateau. At the headworks of the project is Grand Coulee Dam (Fig. 2), key * The author is indebted to personnel of the Ephrata, Washington, Office of the Bureau of Reclamation for their help in providing information for his use. This article is part of a broader study of the Basin Project made during the period 1958-1961 when the author was an instructor in the Departnment of Geology-Geography, University of Idaho, and also a Ph.D. candidate in geography at