KACHESS DAM HAERWA-79 Kachess River, 1.5 miles north of Interstate 90 WA-79 Easton vicinity Kittitas County Washington

PHOTOGRAPHS

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD PACIFIC WEST REGIONAL OFFICE National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 1111 Jackson Street, Suite 700 Oakland, CA 94607 HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79

Location: Kachess River, 1. 5 miles north of Interstate 90 Easton Vicinity, Kittitas County, Washington

U.T.M.: 10:635942:5235940 (east end) 10:635695:5235965 (west end) Quad: Kachess Lake, Washington

Dates of Construction: 1910-1912, 1936, 1996

Engineers: United States Reclamation Service

Owner: United States Bureau of Reclamation

Present Use: Water storage for irrigation project

Significance: Kachess Dam and Reservoir provide nearly a quarter of the water stored for the Yakima Project, which irrigates t~e Yakima Valley in central Washington. The valley, while blessed with a greater natural water supply than most arid regions, required an integrated, valley-wide system dependent on stored water in order to realize its agricultural potential. Private irrigation companies lacked the capital and the engineering expertise to make such an investment in the valley, but the 1902 Newlands Act enabled the United States Reclamation Service to do so. Kachess, along with the other dams and reservoirs that compose the Storage Unit of the Yakima Project, represents the complete transition of private to federal irrigation in the region.

Historians: Cynthia de Miranda, Charlene K. Roise, and Marjorie Pearson, Hess, Roise and Company, 1999 and 2003 \ ' \ \ \

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I. DESCRIPTION AND ENGINEERING INFORMATION

Kachess Dam and Reservoir sit on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains in central Washington State at the head of the Kachess River, a tributary of the Yakima River. Kachess is located between Keechelus and Cle Elum (also called Clealum) Reservoirs, which also store water for the Yakima Project. The dam impounds Kachess Reservoir, created from two connected natural bodies of water, Lake Kachess and Little Lake Kachess, that catches runoff from the nearby mountain slopes. The reservoir holds 239,000 acre-feet; when full, the reservoir's surface area measures 4,535 acres at elevation 2262 ft. 1 Under current operating regimes, the reservoir fills throughout the spring and early summer with snowmelt and' rainfall. Water is released in early spring for flood control, irrigation, and to regulate stream flow for chinook salmon and other anadramous fish. Water is drawn down in the summer and early fall to provide irrigation water and regulate stream flow to promote fish spawning. During the late fall and winter the water levels are controlled for fish and flood control.2

Embankment3

Kachess Dam is a zoned earthfill embankment with a structural height of 115 ft. and a hydraulic height of 57 ft. It extends roughly along an east-west axis for 1,400 ft. and contains about 200,000 cubic yards of material. The maximum base width is 335 ft. The embankment crest is 20 ft. wide at elevation 2268 ft. From the crest, the upstream (north) face has a slope of 3: 1, and the downstream (south) side has a slope of 2: 1. A protective layer of rock riprap, 2 ft. deep, over a 3

1 The reservoir's original capacity, immediately following the 1912 completion of the dam, was 210,000 acre-feet. The reservoir's capacity increased in 1936 with plugging of the old spillway, which had a lower weir elevation than does the new (1936) spillway. 2 This description is based on the following sources: "The Kachess Dam on the Yakima River in Washington," Engineering Record 65 (January 27, 1912): 101-102; E. H. Baldwin, "Construction ofKachess Dam, Washington," Engineering News 69 (May 15, 1913): 989-999; United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, "Schedule, Specifications, and Drawings, Spillway for Kachess Dam, Yakima Project Washington," Specifications No. 669, 1936, available at Bureau of Reclamation Library, Denver Federal Center, Colorado; "Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams (SEED) Report on Kachess Dam, Yakima Project, Washington, Pacific Northwest Region," 1979, report issued by Division of Dam Safety, Denver Office, Bureau of Reclamation; "Modifications to Kachess Dam, Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, Washington, Finding ofNo Significant Impact and Final Environmental Assessment," prepared for U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region, Upper Columbia Area Office, Yakima, Washington, April 1996. The Baldwin article provides a great deal of interesting and informative detail about the construction processes, problems encountered, and equipment used. Unpublished reports are available at Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region, Upper Columbia Area Office, Yakima, Washington, hereafter Upper Columbia Area Office. See also "Yakima Project, Washington:.Benton, Franklin, Yakima, and Kittitas Counties, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Project Data Book," Revision October 1983, available at Bureau of Reclamation Library, Denver Federal Center, Colorado; and "Kachess Dam, Washington," Bureau of Reclamation website dataweb.usbr.gov/dams/wa00260.htm. Cynthia de Miranda also conducted a site survey in November 1998. 3 The appearance of the embankment in 1995, prior to the alterations of 1996, is documented in photographs WA- 79-1 through WA-79-7. FINE.. MATE.PilAL FILL. ----- SMALL P..OCI', ~ P.,OLI', f&'llf"-,...,AP DN FAC.t:. ,.-- C.PiU:>T l'l0Af7

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ft. deep gravel and rock foundation protects the upstream face. The downstream slope is covered by a face of smaller rock 3 ft. deep. To limit seepage and facilitate drainage through the earthen structure, the upstream section of the embankment consists largely of rolled earthfill. The material was excavated from the east borrow pit, applied in layers that were 8 in. deep, then compacted to 6 in. deep. The downstream section of the dam is composed mostly of gravels excavated from the riverbank borrow pit. Beneath the embankment, upstream of and parallel to the centerline, is a corewall, also called a cutoff wall, composed of concrete set in a puddled core of "fine silty loam."4 The underlying subsoil conditions here determined the corewall composition. The corewall, which is carried to a maximum depth of elevation 2153 ft., is set into the base of the foundation trench, also called a cutoff trench, which is 20 ft. wide at the bottom with 1: 1 side slopes, and varied in depth from 3 ft. to 20 ft. In the section of the embankment that crosses the river, the trench is at a depth of 28 ft. below the surface of the riverbed, and the concrete corewall, which surrounds the embankment conduit, rises 7 5 ft. to the height of the original ground surface. The base rests on gravelly clay; the trench and corewall are intended to prevent seepage through the foundation of the embankment. To further control seepage, two drains extend the entire length of the dam. One is of 12 in. vitreous tile laid with open joints in a trench that is placed 30 to 60 ft. up from the downstream toe. Rock outlet drains lead to the toe drain. This drain is of rockfill 6 to l O ft. wide and 6 to 8 ft. deep, just under the lower toe on the downstream side of the embankment. Outlet rock drains extend from the toe trench west of the outlet conduit and at the old river channel to carry seepage water away from the embankment. 5 An unpaved road extends across the top of the embankment to provide access to the spillway gate operating mechanism. A narrow staircase, descending the upstream face of the embankment towards its east end, is part of the gauging system that measures the height of the reservoir.

Inlet and Outlet Vl orks6

Water is released from the reservoir to the river by inlet and outlet works consisting of a three­ section inlet channel, either 2,900 ft. or 2,656 ft. long;7 a 300 ft. long conduit through the dam embankment; and an open outlet channel section, 500 ft. long, that empties into the Kachess River. The inlet channel is an excavated channel comprised of three sections, extending from within the pool of the natural lake to the toe of the dam at the gate tower. The upstream section is an unlined open channel, 1,259 ft. long, 12 ft. feet wide, and 27 feet deep that originates about 1,000 ft. within the pool of the natural lake and is excavated into the lake bed. This allows the reservoir to be drafted to a deeper elevation than the surface of the natural lake. The downstream

4 "SEED Report," 29. 5 These drains are described in Baldwin, 997-998, and discussed in greater detail in "SEED Report," 23-24. 6 The system for transferring stored water from the reservoir downstream to the river is generally called the outlet works. Because the Kachess system is fairly complex with a number of components, it is somewhat easier to understand by differentiating the portion of the system leading to the gate tower at the upstream toe of the embankment, the inlet works, from the portion of the system leading from the gate tower to the river, the outlet works. The various components of the system are identified by different names in various documents. 7 Baldwin, 991, lists the length of these three sections as 1,250 ft., 1,350 ft., and 300 ft. "SEED Report," 41, gives the lengths as 1,200 ft., 1,200 ft., and 256 ft. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 7)

...... ;.•.•.' II •II :II "• •II" •'" • .: • II ~=--==~___j_~ KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 9) end of the open channel connects to the second section of the inlet channel just beyond the rim of the natural lake. This section is a 1,350 ft. long, buried, horseshoe-type, 9 ft. x 10 ft. reinforced­ concrete conduit with an intake fitted with trashracks at the upstream end. The conduit empties into a 300 ft. long open section that leads to the gate tower. Angled concrete intake walls extend from the base of the gate tower. 8 This last section was once lined with hand-placed rock paving, of which small remnants were still visible in 1995. From this point, the water passes from the inlet channel to the outlet works through the dam. This consists of an outlet conduit controlled by gates within the gate tower.

Gate Tower and Gatehouse9

The gate tower is a rectangular reinforced-concrete intake structure with walls 2 ft. thick that hold trashracks on the front (reservoir) side and top. The bottom of the tower is at elevation 2212.75 ft. In plan the gate tower is divided into three sets of three compartments. Water intake is through three 4 ft. x 10 ft. rectangular openings that contain three 4 ft. x 10 ft. hydraulically operated cast-iron slide gates in the upstream compartments. These are emergency gates (also called guard gates), which normally remain open. They are closed only when it is necessary to work in the outlet conduit to perform an inspection or in case of accident. The three middle compartments contain three 4 ft. x 10 ft. gates us~d in normal operation to regulate water flow through the outlet conduit. The three downstream compartments contain stop plank grooves. When originally built, the gates could be operated by hand or powered by a 5 horsepower turbine installed in the west stop plank compartment. At some point, the system was further mechanized. All six gates were operated by hydraulic motors that powered horizontal jack shafts. The gate lifts were engaged to the jack shafts by lever-operated square jaw clutches with two speed ranges. The hoists and stems of the regulating gates were replaced by hydraulic hoist cylinders in 1980. The hydraulic controls, as well as other control panels, are located inside the gatehouse. 10

The gatehouse is a rectangular, single-story concrete structure, approximately 23 ft. x 15 ft., that rests on concrete buttresses atop the gate tower. The base is at elevation 2268 ft. It has a gabled roof sheathed in composition shingles above bracketed wood eaves. 11 The upstream (north) and downstream (south) faces contain three recessed concrete panels. The east and west faces each have one recessed concrete panel. The center panel on the south face contains the entrance with two metal door panels below a wood panel. Access to the gatehouse is by a double-span steel Warren-truss footbridge leading from the dam crest. The bridge is supported on three concrete

8 The inlet channel is documented as W A-79-F. The appearance prior to 1996 is depicted in photographs W A-79-F- 1 through WA-79-F-9. The upstream open channel is also called the lake outlet channel, and the inlet conduit is also called the lake outlet conduit; the upstream end is also called the intake. 9 The appearance of the gate tower and gatehouse in 1995 are documented by photographs WA-79-D-1 through WA-79~D-14. This description is of the conditions in 1995. The gate tower and gatehouse were completely replaced in 1996. This HAER documentation study has been undertaken to partially mitigate the 1996 replacement. 10 Baldwin, 995; "SEED Report," 4, 42; "Memorandum to Assistant Commissioner- Engineering and Research," July 25, 1979, 6-7, appended to "SEED Report." 11 The original roof was pyramidal and covered with tiles. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 10) piers. The floor of the bridge is wood planks. At the dam crest the bridge rests on a concrete and riprap abutment, while at the gatehouse end it rests on a concrete buttress.

Outlet Conduit and Outlet Channel 12

The 12 ft. x 12 ft. horseshoe-type reinforced-concrete outlet conduit carries water from the reservoir through the dam and into the outlet channel below the dam. It is 300 or 322 ft. long, and extends from the gate tower through the corewall to the outlet opening, lying nearly perpendicular to the centerline of the dam on a northwest-southeast axis. Collars 15 in. thick, extend 4 ft. out from the conduit to prevent water from seeping from the reservoir along the outside wall of the conduit. The collars are at 25 ft. intervals from the gate tower to the corewall and at 35 ft. intervals downstream of the corewall.13

On the downstream side, the conduit empties into the open outlet channel. A headwall surrounds the conduit exit. The trapezoidal-shaped outlet channel is 12 ft. wide and 18 ft. deep with walls on a 1-1/2: 1 slope and concrete lining up to 8 ft. with hand-placed mortared riprap above. It extends for 431 ft., emptying into a stilling basin. This is a circular depression approximately 100 ft. in diameter, excavated in sand and gravel. It serves to check the velocity of the water before it enters the river. The wingwalls at the end of outlyt channel are protected by riprap and log cribbing. Beyond the stilling basin, the outlet channel empties into the Kachess River, which ultimately flows to irrigate the valley.14

Spillway15

Water can also be released from the reservoir through an open spillway, located near the west end of the embankment. The spillway was built in 1936, more than two decades after the original construction period. The spillway consists of an inlet channel, a concrete weir controlled by a radial gate, and a concrete-lined open channel leading straight south for about 425 ft., where it empties into a stilling basin. From the stilling basin, the. channel curves to the east, returning water to the Kachess River downstream of the junction between the outlet channel and the river. The curved section of the spillway outlet channel is rock lined.

The inlet channel is 50 ft. wide at the bottom at elevation 2250 ft., has 2: 1 side slopes, and originates about 200 ft. upstream of the dam embankment. On the upstream (north) face of the dam embankment, a pair of angled concrete wing walls form the intake to the spillway. The walls rise upward to a height of 22 ft. as they approach the spillway gate. The wing walls flank a

12 These are documented as WA-79-A. Their appearance before 1996 is documented in photographs WA-79-A-1 and WA-79-A-2. 13 Baldwin, 995, says the outlet conduit is 322 ft. long. "SEED Report," 41, gives the length as 300 ft. 14 "SEED Report," 41, describes the open outlet channel and stilling basin. 15 The current appearance of the spillway has been documented as WA-79-B-1 through WA-79-B-5. See "SEED Report," 37.

KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 12) concrete apron with a 5 ft. deep cutoff foundation wall at the front edge. The intake leads to a 50 ft. wide concrete weir with a crest elevation of 2254 ft. that forms the spillway lip. A 50 ft. wide, 8 ft. high radial gate at elevation 2262 ft. controls water flow across the weir. A pedestrian bridge and the gate hoist deck span the 50 ft. distance between the channel walls. Both have concrete decks supported by a pair of I-beams with pipe railings. The pedestrian bridge, at 22 ft. high, matches the height of the spillway inlet walls. The operating deck, located just downstream, holds the hoists and hoist engine that raise and lower the gate. Water passes under the gate and over the weir into the channel below. It is designed to discharge 4,000 cu. ft. per second when the reservoir reaches elevation 2262 ft.

The open spillway channel has an hourglass shape. The first section is 50 ft. wide for about 100 ft., then narrows to 30 ft. in width, then expands again to 70 ft. as it approaches the stilling basin. The 7 ft. high concrete walls of the channel are set perpendicular to the concrete floor. A chain­ link fen~e tops the walls to prohibit access to the channel. The channel slopes downward gently as it progresses toward the stilling basin, although the last 7 5 ft. drop 68 ft. to the basin, which is about 440 ft. downstream from the spillway crest. The basin pool has been excavated 20 ft. below the original ground surface to elevation 2186 ft. The stilling basin floor is about 70 ft. wide and is lined with concrete baffles. Sloped walls covered in riprap border the basin. The section of the channel beyond the stilling basin h~s a 60 ft. wide unlined floor and side walls with 1-1/2:1 slopes topped by 20 ft. wide berms. The channel is at least 10 ft. deep and extends about 1,100 ft. downstream to its intersection with the Kachess River, below the outlet channel.

Dike Closing Original Spillway16

The 1936 spillway made the original spillway obsolete. That original spillway was a natural channel located about half a mile east of the dam, at a low point in the rim of the reservoir basin that extends to the river below the dam. -A 4 ft. high, 250 ft. long concrete weir was constructed at the upper end of the dam. Dry stone paving, 6 in. deep, protected the bottom and sloped sides of the 50 ft. section approaching the weir; a 12 in. depth of similar paving protected the area just· below the weir. When the new spillway was constructed, the old spillway was plugged with an earthen dike 280 ft. long. The dike has a 111 ft. wide base and a 20 ft. wide crest that rises 18 ft. from the old spillway floor. The upstream face has a slope of 3: 1 and is covered with loose stone riprap to protect it from wave action. The downstream face has a slope of 2: 1 and is covered with gravel. Inside the dike, an 8 ft. high concrete cutoff wall tops the original concrete weir to prevent seepage through the dam.

16 The current condition of this feature has been documented as WA-79-C-1 through WA-79-C-2. See "SEED Report," 35. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 13)

Other Features17

Cascade Canal Company Crib Dam

The Cascade Canal Company crib dam, built in 1904 just downstream of the mouth of the natural Lake Kachess, is situated about 1,600 ft. northeast of the gatehouse and tower. Unused since the completion ofKachess Dam in 1912, and generally submerged beneath the reservoir, the timber crib structure is no longer in operating condition. The dam, which spanned the river channel, was about 10 ft. high and 200 ft. long with much of the length in wings to either side of the channel. The wings were composed of cribs built of hewn lumber about 1 ft. square. Vertical planking and earthen fill were placed on the upstream side of the cribs. 18 The timber plank floor that laid immediately upstream of the dam limited erosion of the streambed. The structure impounded about 8 ft. of water, providing 32,000 acre-feet of storage. Three openings with flashboards centered in the dam controlled the flow of water to the cooperative's 43-mile canal that delivered water to farmland near Ellensburg. Four rock-filled cribs remain; two standing within the river channel and one on each bank forming abutments. The two within the channel are large freestanding cribs with upstream breakwaters. They once separated the three bays centered in the dam. The breakwater points have eroded, but the crib structures still stand. Each crib is formed of large, square-cut timbers running lengthwise with smaller timbers forming the transverse layers. Metal reinforcing bars were driven through the timbers for added support, and loose rock filled the cribs. The cribs on either bank are similar although more deteriorated . . Surviving w9od plank flooring extends upstream from the three openings, as do plank retaining walls. Piles driven upstream of the crib structure are also visible; they probably served as support for flooring no longer extant. 19

Cutoff Channel and Crib Structures

Just upstream of the dam and east of the inlet channel are the visible remnants of the cutoff . channel and two rock-filled timber cribs that date from the construction ofKachess Dam. The cutoff channel was dug to divert river water from the work site during construction of the inlet channel and outlet conduit. A rock-filled timber crib drop was constructed in the downstream , end of the cutoff channel to accommodate an 18 ft. change in grade within the channel and to prevent erosion. Two other long cribs are visible further along the river channel near the dam embankment. One is a footing or abutment for a temporary bridge used during construction, that crossed the river channel; the original function of the second is unknown. 20

17 See Site Plan-1995 on page 3 for the locations of these features. 18 See drawing on page 14. 19 This description is based on historic views in the Lake Kachess Photo Album, 1897-1914, Upper Columbia Area Office, and on a site survey conducted by Cynthia de Miranda in November 1998. This feature has been documented as WA-79-E. The current condition is depicted in photographs WA-79-E-1 through WA-79-E-20. 20 The description is based on a site survey conducted by Cynthia de Miranda in November 1998 and on information in Baldwin, 990, 992. These features have been documented as WA-79-G. The current condition is depicted in photographs WA-79-G-1 through WA-79-G-8. £J PP-JIVE. fll FAC.E. : THP,E.E. ~PIL.LWA'I' GtATE.':7 WITH TWO LAYE.P>~ Of 411(o P,OL~-FIL.Ll:.17 '-P,1f1 PIE.Pi!> AND woop PL.ANl'i';:, 1,JOOD PLAN~ FLA7He>OAP,,D~

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II. HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Federal Irrigation and the United States Reclamation Service

The Federal Government had a long history of involvement with land development in the West and the need to deal with water use. The Homestead Act of 1862 granted 160 acres of land to each settler, but in the arid western climate that amount was insufficient to sustain a family. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the Timber Culture Act of 1873 required that 40 acres of each claim be planted with trees, which was thought to encourage rainfall. After Congress passed the Desert Lands Act in 1877, individuals could claim up to 640 acres for $1.25 per acre in thirteen western states, provided that the land be irrigated within three years. Residency on the claimed land was not required until the act was amended in 1891. At that time, the holding was reduced to 320 acres. These actions encouraged settlement, but did not establish the widespread irrigation needed to sustain farming. 21

John Wesley Powell, the noted explorer of the West, undertook a study of western lands for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), publishing A Report on the Lands ofthe Arid Region ofthe United States, with a More Detailed Account ofthe Lands of Utah in two editions (1876; rev. ed. 1878). In this report, he advocated a Fed~ral presence in promoting an irrigation policy for the two-fifths of the United States that could not otherwise support farming and the establishment of reservoir systems for water storage. After Powell became head of the USGS in 1881, the agency began to survey and map the United States. In 1888 and 1889, it conducted surveys of possible canal routes and reservoir sites in many of the western states which were undergoing a worsening drought. At the National Irrigation Congress held in 1891 in Salt Lake City, a resolution was passed calling for proceeds from the sale of public lands to be used to finance the reclamation of arid lands.22

The USGS undertook a study of the water supplies in Washington's Yakima Valley in 1892. ChiefHydrographer Frederick Haynes Newell, who later became the first director of the United States.Reclamation Service (USRS), described the Yakima River and its tributaries and noted the abundance of water in the lakes of the Cascades: "These lakes serve as natural reservoirs,

21 Christine Pfaff, Harvests ofPlenty: A History ofthe Yakima Irrigation Project, Washington (Denver: United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 2001), 17; "Boise Project, Deer Flat Embankment, Historic American Engineering Record (ID-17-B)," 1991, report prepared by Fredric Quivik with Amy Slaton, hereafter cited as Quivik, 24. See Pfaff's report for more detailed discussions of irrigation developments in the Yakima Valley. Katharine Coman, "Some Unsettled Problems oflrrigation," American Economic Review 1 (March 1911): 4-5, discusses the Desert Lands Act and its amendment. Elwood Mead, "Rise and Future of Irrigation in the United States," Yearbook ofthe Department ofAgriculture, 1899 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900), 603-604, thought the Act was of mixed usefulness because it encouraged settlement, but the acreage was too large for ''men of small means" and not large enough to suit "corporate enterprise, or to reclaim large valleys which can be watered from a single canal, because it makes no provision for concerted or effective management'ofthe entire area." 22 Quivik, 24-25; Pfaff, 17-19. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 17) regulating, to a certain extent, the discharge of the streams, reducing the height of the floods, and increasing the summer flows. Their usefulness in this regard could be greatly increased at moderate expense by erecting suitable dams and gates at their outlets. "23

In 1894 Congress passed the Carey Act which gave the states responsibility for overseeing irrigation efforts. Each western state would be granted up to one million acres of public land provided that no less than twenty acres of each 160-acre tract be brought under settlement and irrigation within five years. Once proof of settlement and irrigation was established with the Secretary of the Interior, the lands would be transferred to the state and subsequently to the settlers. 24

Washington, which had only been admitted to statehood in 1889, established the position of Commissioner of Arid Lands in 1895. The Commissioner was to select lands under the Carey Act and enter into contracts for reclamation. Although the state applied for 86,854 acres under the act, the land was never developed. Like the other western states, Washington lacked the financial resources and technical expertise to move forward with large-scale irrigation projects.25

By 1901, western support for Federal involvement in irrigation was growing. President Theodore Roosevelt addressed Congress in December 1901_, calling for legislation to reclaim arid lands in the West. Both Newell and Dr. Elwood Mead, Chief of Irrigation for the Department of Agriculture, supported such legislation. Under the leadership of Nevada Congressman Francis G. Newlands, who headed a committee of seventeen representatives from the western states, the Land Reclamation Act was passed and signed into law by President Roosevelt on June 17, 1902. The Act, also known as the Newlands Act, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to locate and constrllct irrigation works in the arid western states and territories, with funding to come from the sale of public lands. Once the irrigation projects were constructed, the lands would be open for settlement in 160-acre tracts. The acreage limitation was intended to encourage homesteading and discourage speculation. Project construction costs were to be paid by the settlers; then operation and maintenance would become the responsibility of irrigation districts. The Land Reclamation Act also established the United States Reclamation Service as a division within the United States Geological Survey to administer the programs. F. H. Newell was appointed as Chief Engineer. The law came into effect in the 1901-02 fiscal year so there was already $8 million in the Reclamation Fund by June 1902 for irrigation projects in the West.26

23 Pfaff, 18; F. H. Newell, "Federal Land Reclamation: A National Problem, Part 1. Origin, Problems and Achievements of Federal Land Reclamation," Engineering News-Record91 (October 25, 1923): 668. The quote is from F. H. Newell, "Results of Stream Measurements," 14th Annual Report, United States Geological Survey, 1892- 93, Part II, Accompanying Papers (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894), 132-134; reprinted in F. H. Newell, "The Yakima River in Washington," Irrigation Age 7 (January 1894): 24-25. 24 Quivik, 25-26; Pfaff, 19. 25 Pfaff, 19-20. 26 Quivik, 26-27; Pfaff, 20-21. Newlands became U.S. Senator from Nevada in 1903. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 18)

Private Irrigation in the Yakima Valley

At the urging of Washington Territorial Governor Isaac F. Stevens, the resident Yakama Indians negotiated a treaty in 1855 that ceded about 17,000 square miles ofland to the Federal Government. They also agreed to move to the newly created Yakima Indian Reservation at the · southwest comer of the Yakima Valley. The Y akama built some irrigation ditches on the reservation to cultivate their gardens, but continued to rely on fishing, hunting, and wild plant gathering for most oftheir food sources.27

After the creation of the reservation, settlers began to come into the Yakima Valley. Most were ranchers of cattle, sheep, and horses with subsistence gardens watered by simple ditches from nearby streams and rivers. Farming operations, which were made possible by small, localized irrigation efforts, were limited until the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the valley in the 1880s. With the railroad, farmers had ready access to markets for their produce. The railroad was granted almost one-half of the land in the valley, and the rail lines were completed to Seattle and Tacoma, causing a dramatic increase in the region's population. Towns developed along the railroad right-of-way in response to the location of station sites. Thus, when the Northern Pacific Railroad located the station in North Yakima in 1884, it superseded Yakima City, incorporated in 1883. Similarly, Ellensburg to the north was incor_porated in 1886 after it became a station stop.28

As more farmers came into the valley, demands for irrigation increased beyond the simple ditches that led water from rivers and streams. By the 1890s, groups of farmers established irrigation cooperatives and companies to carry water to less accessible tracts of land.29

The largest private irrigation effort was the Sunnyside Canal, initiated by the Northern Pacific, Yakima and Kittitas Irrigation Company (NP, Y & K Company) in 1890. The Northern Pacific Railroad was a two-thirds owner of this company. By 1906 the canal extended about 56 miles and was supported by almost 75 miles of laterals that could irrigate 48,000 acres of land. The land, located on the northeast side of the Yakima River, extended from below Union Gap downstream to the vicinity of Prosser. The owners of the system wanted to make the land attractive for commercial farming; much of the land was owned by the railroad, a two-thirds partner in the company. With water available, the railroad could aggressively market its land to new settlers, who in turn would use the railroad to transport their products.

In 1890 the NP, Y & K Company had oodertaken surveys of potential canal routes and irrigation sites. Based on that work, the company planned to construct seven storage reservoirs, including Bumping Lake feeding into the Naches River; one irrigation canal in Kittitas County; and two in Yakima Coooty. It also filed appropriation notices for the waters of Lakes Keechelus, Kachess, and Cle Elum in order to secure rights to the headwaters of the Yakima River. The financial

27 Pfaff, 4-5, 7. 28 Pfaff, 7-9. 29 Pfaff, 9-12, discusses a number of these private efforts. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 19)

collapse of 1893 dealt a blow to the company's plans, stalling Work on the canal and halting preparation work for dams at Lake Keechelus and Bumping Lake. In 1900, the canal enterprise was purchased by the Washington Irrigation Company, which was able to resume work on the system. The Washington Irrigation Company sold its irrigated land holdings for $30 to $60 per acre, including perpetual water rights. 30

Despite the lake water claims filed by the NP, Y & K Company, the first action to impound the upper lakes occurred when the Cascade Canal Company built a crib dam at the south end of Lake Kachess in 1904. The company, a farmers' cooperative formed in 1902 to irrigate the land owned by the shareholders, had filed claims on Yakima River water and another for water from Lake Kachess in 1903. As described earlier, the dam, built of rock-filled wood cribs with the flow controlled by flashboards, was about 10 feet high and 200 feet long, creating about 32,000 acre-feet of stored water. The stored water fl0wed down the river until it was diverted into the 43-mile lonfi Cascade Canal, which delivered water to about 13,000 acres of farmland near Ellensburg. 1

By 1904, about 150,000 acres were under irrigation in the Yakima Valley, served by a number of privately owned irrigation systems. The valley farmers were praised for their productivity, and they were among the most prosperous in the West. The booming mining camps of northern Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia provided a ready market for Yakima Valley produce. · William Smythe, a strong advocate for irrigation, wrote that the Yakima Valley "is one of the few places in the West where water is relatively more abundant than land, and consequently, where there need be no limitation upon growth by reason of lack of moisture." By 1910, the valley had ten irrigated farms for every one that had existed before 1890. However, regardless of Smythe' s words, significant over-allocation of available water had occurred by 1900, and this was limiting the full agricultural development of valley lands. 32

30 Pfaff, 13-16, discusses the background and entities involved in the Sunnyside Canal companies. 31 Pfaff, 10; United States Reclamation Service, "Map ofKachess Crib Dam," October 4, 1907, available at Upper Columbia Area Office; United States; Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Third Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1904 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905), 602; United States, Department of the Interior, Sixth Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1907 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907(8?)), 231; United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Irrigation in the Yakima Valley, Washington (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), 24-25, 35-36. Remnants of the cribs are still visible and recorded as WA-79-E. See WA-79-E-21 through WA-79-E-28 for plans and historic views. 32 Pfaff, 16, cites A. P. Davis to T. A. Noble, July 4, 1904, General Records, Washington, D.C., Entry 3, Yakima · Box 1020, Records of the Bureau of Reclamation, Record Group 115, National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Records Center, Denver,, Colorado, for the laudatory comments. Hereafter, records from the Bureau of Reclamation, Record Group 115 will be indicated by the use ofRG 115; records in the Denver Federal Records Center of the National Archives and Records Administration are indicated by the use ofFRC Denver. The quote is from William Smythe, The Conquest ofArid America (Norwood, Mass.: Norwood Press, 1905), 200. The proportions of irrigated farms are discussed in Robert G. Nesbit and Charles M. Gates, "Agriculture in Eastern Washington, 1890-1910," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 37 (July 1946): 286-287. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 20)

The Yakima Project and the Storage Unit

In August 1903, the newly established USRS set up a Washington office in Spokane. T. A. Noble, a civil engineer from Seattle, was named Division Engineer. Because of the number of private irrigation enterprises in the Yakima Valley, the USRS did not see an immediate need to act. According to Newell, "The most feasible opportunities for reclamation [in Washington state] are those offered by Yakima River and its tributaries, the principal obstacles being the fact that much of the land to be benefited is in private ownership. Already steps have been taken to utilize some of the storage reservoirs in the Cascade Mountains, and it is not desirable for the Government to forestall work which can be carried on by private parties."33 Noble had been charged with conducting an assessment of irrigation prospects in the Yakima Valley but was concerned about expensive storage requirements and complicated water rights. He reported: "At the headwaters of the river and of its principal tributaries are several large lakes that might be used for storage purposes. Attempts have been made by several persons and corporations to obtain possession of these lakes, but so far as can be ascertained the title is still in the Government. Temporary structures have been built or projected in the hope of getting possession of the lakes in the interest of one or another of the canal companies operating along the lower part of the stream."34

Because valley residents continued to request that the USRS investigate development of a Federal irrigation project in the valley, George H. Bliss, Noble's Assistant Engineer, was sent to make further studies in 1904. His team identified a number of potential reservoir sites. These were located at Lake Keechelus, Lake Kachess, and Lake Cle Elum; Bumping Lake on the Naches River; and McAllister Meadows (now Rimrock Reservoir) on the Tieton River. The Cascade Canal Company had already built its crib dam at Lake Kachess, and the Cascade Lumber Company was building a timber crib dam on Lake Keechelus. As described in the Third Annual Report, the USRS had conducted "a thorough reconnaissance of the water supply, the amount of water appropriated, the amount of irrigated land available, and other problems affecting the feasibility of an irrigation project in Yakima Valley... Nowhere in the State of Washington has irrigation been practiced so long, or so extensively, or have matters pertaining to irrigation reached a higher state of development, than in Yakima Valley. Notwithstanding this fact about three-fourths of the land in this valley is still unirrigated, which, with the storage facilities at hand, can be considered irrigable." The USRS, however, remained somewhat reluctant to pursue a Federal Project in the Yakima Valley, in part due to complex and contentious claims to prior water rights. 35

33 United States, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, First Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1902 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903), 304. Annual Reports are available in Federal Depositories, including the University of Minnesota Library. 34 United States, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Second Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1902-3 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904), 494. 35 Pfaff, 23-24; United States, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Third Annual Report of the Reclamation Service, 1903-4 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905), 599-600. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 21)

In 1905 the USRS changed its stance because of several circumstances. Most importantly, in March the Washington State legislature, in response to pressure from Governor Henry A. McBride, passed a law that authorized the United States Government to acquire lands for reservoir sites and canals by eminent domain. It also gave the Government the exclusive right to use any lakes in the State for storage purposes and the right to withdraw all unappropriated water for a four-year period. 36

The following month, Reclamation engineers T. A. Noble, A. J. Wiley, David C. Henny, and Arthur P. Davis submitted a report on their irrigation investigations in the valley. The report opened by stating that, due to the complete appropriation of water in the valley rivers, no further irrigation development would be feasible without the construction of storage facilities. Three . potential projects were identified, and three recommendations were made and subsequently approved by F. H. Newell. These were: immediate surveys to determine the feasibility and cost of water storage on Lakes Cle Elum, Kachess, Keechelus, Bumping Lake, McAllister Meadows, and any other promising reservoir sites; investigation of the irrigation possibilities of an expanded Sunnyside Canal; and continued surveys to determine the feasibility and cost of the previously proposed Kittitas, Cowiche, and Ledbetter Projects. In May the USRS requested the State Land Commissioner to withdraw the unappropriated waters of the Yakima River and its tributaries in order to develop reclamation projects. State land for rights-of-way and State land suitable for Project irrigation were also requested for withdrawal.37

Triggered by the new legislation, the Washington Irrigation Company offered to sell to the USRS the Sunnyside Canal, including all laterals, water rights, and other property pertaining to the system. The company would keep its unsold land and retain sufficient perpetual water rights to irrigate that land. The Reclamation Service negotiated a purchase option that would expire December 1, 1905, while it continued to investigate the Sunnyside Project.

In December 1905, Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock, who had to approve any endeavors proposed by the USRS, issued a conditional approval for work in the Yakima Valley. The final approval was contingent on the resolution of conflicting water claims and any associated litigation and a pledge to irrigate enough lands to repay the construction costs through user fees. The citizens of the valley resolved their conflicts over rights and limits to waters of the Yakima River and its tributaries and lakes early in 1906. In March, Acting Secretary of the

36 Pfaff, 26-27; Calvin Brewster Coulter, "The Victory ofNational Irrigation in the Yakima Valley, 1902-1906," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 42 (April 1951): 110-113; United States, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Fourth Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1904-5 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1906), 337-341. 37 Pfaff, 27-28; Board of Engineers to F. H. Newell, April 22, 1905, Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver; Fourth Annual Report, 337. An album of photographs by Walter J. Lubken, Official Photographer for the USRS, Book 22: North Yakima, taken as part of the survey efforts, is available at the Upper Columbia Area Office. Federal lands were withdrawn from public purchase and placed under the jurisdiction of the USRS in advance of the request for·authorization for construction of a USRS project. This was done to prevent the purchase or taking of large tracts of land by speculators in anticipation of sharp increases in land values once irrigation was available. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 22)

Interior Thomas Ryan approved the purchase of the Sunnyside Canal system and its expansion as the Sunnyside Unit. He also approved the construction of the Tieton Unit, and further study of storage development. 38

The USRS engineers urged that work begin on storage facilities to control strategic points at the outlets of the lakes. They recommended the construction of temporary crib dams at Lake Keechelus and Lake Cle Elum, to be followed by larger, more permanent dams, and the installation of a permanent dam at Lake Kachess to replace the Cascade Canal Company crib dam the USRS would use until the permanent dam was built. The USRS acquired the crib dam on April 11, 1907. The company was to pay the Federal Government $10,000 over five years to retain perpetual water rights to 16,800 acre-feet of stored water. The temporary crib dams were built in the fall and winter of 1906 and 1907, and work was begun on the first permanent storage dam at Bumping Lake in late 1906. The following summer, the USRS delivered stored water from Lakes Kachess and Keechelus to the valley through the Sunnyside Canal. 39

Because of funding limitations and delays while project repayment issues were resolved with users in the Sunnyside and Tieton Units, the USRS had not been pursuing approval for irrigation works outside of those two units. However, in March 1909, the Secretary of the Interior urged the USRS to "proceed diligently with the construption of the Yakima Project Storage Unit." Otherwise the Government's right of eminent domain would expire if the USRS failed to exercise it. The Secretary also ordered the consolidation of all USRS irrigation ventures in the valley into a single plan which became known as the Yakima Project. The plan called for five irrigating units that would be served by the Storage Unit. At that time, the crib dams at Lakes Kachess, Keechelus, and Cle Elum created low reservoirs. Bumping Lake Dam, still under construction, was completed in 1910. Permanent earthfill dams were planned to replace the crib dams, with the dam at Lake Kachess the next to be built in 1910-12. Keechelus Dam was built between 1913 and 1917. Tieton Dam, which was not begun until 1917, with construction halting in 1918, then continuing between 1921 and 1925, would create Rimrock Reservoir at McAllister Meadows. The five irrigating units were designated as Sunnyside, Tieton, Wapato, Kittitas, and Benton (formerly Ledbetter). A new Washington Division of the Reclamation Service was created with Charles H. Swigart appointed as Supervising Engineer with oversight over the Yakima Project. The new division was headquartered in North Yakima. While some staff at the USRS believed that "there is more land in this valley than can ever be irrigated with the fullest development of storage," Swigart urged that the Storage Unit be fully developed from the start to avoid later dam reconstruction when the irrigating units reached their full potential. 40

38 Pfaff, 31-33; Fourth Annual Report, 337-341. Some of the local citizen reactions to the water rights settlement issues are detailed in the Yakima Daily Republic, November 24, 1905 ("Adjustment of Water Rights Is Assured") and December 18, 1905 ("Settlement of Water Rights Now Sure"). The Tieton Unit, served by water from the Naches River, would irrigate about 24,000 acres oflands lying northwest ofNorth Yakima. 39 Pfaff, 34-35; United States, Department of the Interior, Fifth Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1906 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), 281-283. 40 Pfaff, 35; United States, Department of the Interior, Eighth Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service, 1908-1909 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910), 42, 194; C.H. Swigart to J. S. Conway, Letter, July 24, 1909, KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 23)

A Dam And Reservoir At Lake Kachess

Lake Kachess, a natural glacial lake high on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains, is located at the headwaters of the Kachess River, a tributary of the Yakima River. Situated between Lake Keechelus and Lake Cle Elum, the other two Upper Yakima Lakes, it is about two miles northwest of Easton, Washington. Prior to the construction of the dam, the lake consisted of a lower lake, called Kachess, and a smaller upper lake, called Little Kachess, that were joined by a mile-long channel.

Planning for Kachess Dam and Reservoir

Kachess was the second of the Yakima Project storage reservoirs to be constructed. Early in 1910, Acting Project Engineer J. S. Conway outlined the reasons behind the decision to erect Kachess Dam after Bumping Lake Dam: the anticipated costs were reasonable; the lake basin's area (larger than Keechelus or Cle Elum) translated into greater storage capacity; the small amount of flood discharge expected could be easily controlled during construction; and, perhaps most importantly, conditions at the site permitted the gradual development of the reservoir's full capacity. Kachess water would support the Sunnyside Canal, and the USRS anticipated that the acreage watered by that canal would increase by 13,000 acres each year as the population and demand for water grew. The proposal to build the reservoir in stages would allow the USRS to . erect working portions of the dam and outlet works as appropriations became available, thereby producing functional returns on the work each season. As it happened, construction did not·occur incrementally. All elements of Kachess Dam and its associated works were completed in a single continuous construction effort over the course of three years. The staged concept included a proposal to carry water by a feed canal from the Keechelus drainage; this was never completed.41

Six months earlier, in July 1909, the Board of Engineers met to review plans for Kachess Dam and Reservoir. The board, a panel that would provide oversight and review throughout the project, consisted of J. S. Conway and Charles Swigart, along with USRS's Chief Engineer Arthur P. Davis, who would later succeed Newell as Director, and Consulting Engineer David C. Henny, who had only recently left his post as a construction engineer with the USRS. The initial design concept called for the construction of a puddled-core earthen dam with fill placed hydraulically, similar to that under construction at Bumping Lake.42

Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver. See WA-79-28 for a map of the USRS projects in the Yakima Basin. 41 J. S. Conway, "Information for Board of Consulting Engineers on Kachess Dam," January 20, 1910, General Records, Washington, D.C., Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115; FRC Denver; Sixth Annual Report, 231. 42 Charles H. Swigart to the Director [F. H. Newell], Letter, July 24, 1909, Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver: "The general plan of the dam as proposed is an earth fill dam with 3 to 1 upstream slope and 2 to 1 downstream slope, ... with a core of selected puddle material running thru the entire length of the body of the dam, this core to be of an average width exceeding 12 feet, and to be carried down to water tight material." Swigart to Conway, July 24, 1909: "It is my present opinion that the material in the dam embankment can best be spread by use· KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 24)

While substantial, Kachess did not stand out because of its scale, given the recent erection of the Belle Fourche Dam in South Dakota. Begun in 1906 and nearing completion as Kachess got underway, Belle Fourche measured 115 ft. high and 6,500 ft. in length, impounding 215,000 acre-feet of water. While its height and reservoir capacity would ultimately be comparable, Kachess Dam would be less than a quarter of Belle Fourche's length and contain about an eighth as much material. Reporting on Belle Fourche's construction in 1906, Engineering News stated: "Judged by its great mass and the enormous storage in the reservoir, this dam will be one of the most notable structures of its kind." Upon its completion, Belle Fourche was one of the largest earthen dams in the United States.43

The proposed adaptation of the Bumping Lake Dam design and techniques at Kachess was characteristic of the USRS's methods in its early years of dam building. In 1958, Fred C. Walker, the Bureau of Reclamation's Head of Earth Dams Section, noted in a brief history that until about 1918 the USRS assigned a project to the supervision of a single engineer who relied much more heavily on past experience and empirical data than on scientific analyses, which were unavailable given the limited technology of the period. 44

The evolution of the design employed at Kaches~ likewise illustrates Walker's observation. At nearby Bumping Lake Dam, the USRS employed high-pressure hoses to distribute and compact fill after it was hauled to the site and dumped on the embankment. The semi-hydraulic method, as it was known, had evolved from placer mining techniques in the middle of the nineteenth century. Swigart initially proposed that the results seen at Bumping Lake might direct the methods used at Kachess because preliminary site borings and surveys suggested that the site conditions and available materials favored such a technique.45 However, as investigations progressed, the design ofKachess evolved to reflect Swigart's experiences at another USRS dam. Swigart and Henny both had been involved in building Cold Springs Dam, part of the USRS's Umatilla Project in Oregon. The dam, completed in 1908, is very similar to that ultimately erected at Lake Kachess: a zoned earthfill embankment constructed using roller of water; Our experience with this method at Bumping Lake will of course furnish us opportunities for study and may change my opinions in this regard." See John William Leonard, Who's Who in American Engineering 1922:. 1923 (New York: John W. Leonard Corporation, 1922), 344,558, for information on Henny and Swigart. 43 D.C. Henny, "Two Earth Dams of the United States Reclamation Service," American Society ofCivil Engineers Proceedings 37 (April 1911): 500-506; ''The Belle Fourche Irrigation Works, South Dakota," Engineering News 55 (February 22, 1906): 211; "Belle Fourche Dam, Belle Fourche Project, South Dakota," Engineering Record 53 (March 3, 1906): 307. 44 F. C. Walker, Development ofEarth Dam Design in the Bureau ofReclamation (Denver: Bureau of Reclamation, 1958), 1-6. 45 Swigart to Conway, July 24, 1909; "Memoranda of Conference on Kachess Dam [Feb. 1, 1910] Attended by D.C. Henny, Charles H. Swigart, J.S. Conway, E.H. Baldwin, E. McCulloh, E. H. Elder," Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver: "So far as we have gone into this matter, we believe that the plans suggested of constructing the dam by depositing material on slopes and hydraulicing the fine material into the center of the dam, to be best suited to the material available which can be found on the east hillside adjoining the dam, affording down..:hm haul, or in part for material excavated from the drainage channel." KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 25)

methods to compact dumped material. Henny, after working with both construction methods, concluded in a 1911 paper to the American Society of Civil Engineers that, while the hydraulic system "has important advantages in special cases," rolling provided "greater certainty of results as to quality, time, and cost."46 .

Throughout the initial construction phase in 1910, Newell and Swigart reviewed the proposed embankment design. From his office in Washington, D.C., Newell questioned the selection of an earthen embankment rather than a rockfill dam and criticized the proposed unlined spillway · channel. Why Newell thought that a rockfill dam might be preferable is unclear. USRS had had limited experience constructing rockfill storage dams up to that date. Avalon Dam, completed in 1907 as part of the Carlsbad Project in New Mexico, was earth and rockfill with a concrete core.· Minidoka Dam, completed in 1909 as part of the Minidoka Project in Idaho, was rockfill with a concrete core. Clear Lake Dam, completed in 1910 as part of the Klamath Project in Oregon, was earth and rockfill. 4 7 , · .

Swigart, bolstered by information from Project Engineer Conway, explained that excellent earthfill material was available at the construction site, while rock was not found within two miles of the area. Erection of.a dam of the rockfill type, Conway reported, would require that the rock be "loaded on barges, towed down the lake, .rehandled on to cars, and taken up hill to its final location." Referring to the proposed earthen dam, Conway asserted that "No other type of dam.has proved economical, upon computation, on account of the length of the embankment, which is about 1400 feet." Conway also explained that the spillway design was likewise chosen as an economical solution: "It is fully re.cognized that the size ofthe·spillway, compared to the comparatively poor quality of material in the waste channel, appears faulty, but in designing· · provision was made for carrying the greatest flood of record, in case of extreme emergency; but at the same time realizing the remote possibility ... of the occurrence of such a flood, it was not thought economical to go to further expense of protecting in actual practice." Newellwas sufficiently satisfied to pass the plans along to the Department of the Interior for approval. 48

In addition.to reviewing the design in 1909, the Board of Engineers also discussed the work plan that would supply incremental storage during erection of the Kachess Dam. In concept, the first s.tep would be to construct the permanent inlet and outlet works. The lakebed was 2,226 ft. above sea level, and plans indicated excavation to 2,215 ft., providing 20,000 additional acre-feet of water for irrigation, before even beginning the embankment. The three sections of the inlet works were to be an upstream open channel, a horseshoe-type buried concrete conduit, and a downstream open channel leading to the base of the gate tower at the upstream toe of the

46 Henny, 458-478, 500-506; Yakima Project Circular, Project Data Book, 13 . . 47 F. H. Newell to C.H. Swigart, Letter, June 4, 1910, Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver. United States, Department of the Interior, Dams and Control Works (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938), 258- 259. 48 Washington, D.C., Conway to Swigm1:, June 17, 1910, North Yakima, F. H. Newell to C.H. Swigart, June 29, 1910, Washington, D.C., all in General Records, Washington, D.C., Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver. See WA-79-29. · KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 26)

embankment. Gates in a temporary gate tower built during the first phase would control the flow of water through the new channel. The second phase would see the erection of the dam embankment to its full height, allowing the storage of additional water. This would include construction of the spillway, an outlet conduit through the dam, and a permanent gatehouse and tower on the embankment's upstream toe. Finally, in a third phase, water would be transported from the Keechelus basin to Kachess reservoir via a feed canal.49

In 1909, C. E. Crownover, Project Engineer in charge of the Storage Unit, had noted that site restrictions at Lake Keechelus would limit the capacity of the reservoir there, making it unable to capture all the runoff in its drainage area. Crownover proposed that the excess runoff--estimated at 54,000 acre-feet-be fed through a can.al to the potentially larger Kachess Reservoir. Swigart enthusiastically agreed with Crownover on this point. "It has always been my idea," Swigart maintained, "that it would be economical to finally provide an excess storage capacity at Lake Kachess, which would take care, in a large measure, of the excess runoff from these two water sheds. With the feed canal apparently a feasible proposition, this appeals to me more than. ever." Toward this end, Swigart recommended further studies of storage and hydrographic conditions in the Yakima Valley as a whole as they would be when storage and irrigation were fully developed to determine the ultimate height of the dam-and therefore the reservoir capacity-at Kachess. "The problem of the proper development of storage in [ the Yakima] Valley is the greatest engineering problem we have, and very much depends on a proper solution of this problem at the present time," Swigart argued. "As it seems to me, Lake Kachess is the key to the situation."50

The perceived need to build the largest reservoir to store as much water as possible for the Yakima Project seemed to wane during the.following year. Apparently, the USRS harbored some uncertainty about the amount of water needed in the valley.· Despite their frequent statem~nts that all the water in the valley would not be sufficient to irrigate all the land, the proposed capacity of the reservoir at Kachess was reduced at some point from 225,000 to 210,000 acre-feet. Swigart . also noted during this period that "The development which is proposed for 1910 and 1911 can be considered a complete development of the storage [at Kachess], should no further development be demanded by the needs of the Reclamation Service in the Valley, which, of course, under present plans, is not believed to be possible. It [Kachess Dam and reservoir] has been so planned, however, that it will fit in with any alternate scheme of development of the general storage of the

49 Swigart to Newell, July 24, 1909. 5°C. E. Crownover, "Storage Requirements-Yakima Project," April 1909, General Records, Washington, D.C., Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver; Swigart to Conway, July 24, 1909. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 27)

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Yakima Valley that is found necessary later." With this statement, Swigart conceded that the feed canal from Keechelus to Kachess, tentatively slated to be built in the 1912 season, might not be necessary. In fact, the canal was not built, and little mention of it was made in the project correspondence after this allusion.51

Construction at Lake Kachess

On February 14, 1910, the Secretary of the Interior authorized the first phase of construction,to be completed by force account as had been requested by Swigart on the recommendation of the Board of Engineers. Using a force account rather than contractors would allow the USRS engineers to supervise the work crews and respond to conditions found on site as the 'work proceeded: Baldwin also stated that the work was done at considerably lower cost than any of the bids received from contractors. 52

Work commenced in April when USRS crews established a small temporary camp near the county road to Easton and began clearing the construction site to the north and west of the proposed embankment location for the excavation of the inlet channel, beginning at the swampy lakeshore and moving southward. The camp site is now submerged under Kachess Reservoir. The camp was set up and the lakeshore site clear~d, while the crews waited for the arrival of excavators and dredges.

· . - The crews also set to work diverting the Kachess River from the construction site for the inlet conduit so that work could be completed without danger of flooding. The river's winding path made this a relatively simple task. At the construction site, the river took a hairpin tum and nearly doubled back on itself. Crews dredged a 20 ft.-wide cutoff channel to connect the parallel stretches of the riverbed. The cutoff channel became a shortcut for the river's flow, enabling it to be diverted east of the construction site. A rock-filled crib weir at the downstream (south) end carried water from the channel, and a double-thickness of 2 in. planks lined the waterway below the drop into the lower section of the river to limit erosion. A timber-pile bridge crossed the channel at about its midsection, allowing access from the county road east of the cutoff to the construction site on the west side. Crews also planked the Cascade Canal Company's crib dam to provide a crossing there. And·finally they built a two-span timber kingpost truss bridge on crib

51,C. H. Swigart to F. H. Newell, May 16, 1910, 2, in General Records, Washington, D.C., Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver. 52 "Memoranda of Conference on Kachess Dam," 6: "The work contemplated for this year will be partly wet excavation and its extent will depend to a great extent upon the character of the material encountered, which renders it practically necessary that the plans of the work be changed according to developments. These conditions make it entirely inadvisable to attempt to place this work by contract and we recommend that it be done by force account." Baldwin, 990. A "force account" allowed USRS to hire and supervise its own labor force for a project, rather than working through contractors. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 29)

abutments just upstream of the embankment site to provide construction access from the riverbank down into the cutoff channel. 53

Beginning in June, about 1500 ft. southwest of the Cascade Canal Company's crib dam, at the edge of the natural lakeshore, crews used teams of horses to construct a cofferdam at the head of the inlet conduit section to keep out the lake water. Beginning in September, workers employed teams of horses and mules, a steam shovel, and a Lidgerwood-Crawford excavator with a drag­ line to dig a portion of what would be a 1,400 ft.-long trench for the buried conduit section; the trench had a bottom width of 15 ft. The hard material encountered-characterized in a contemporary report as "a sort of cemented gravel"-required drilling and blasting to loosen it before excavation. Three shifts operated each day digging the conduit trench; an electric plant in the camp generated light for the night shifts. As early as December, crews began pouring concrete for the conduit in completed sections of the trench to keep the steep sides from collapsing during spring flooding. Workers erected tents over the site and kept fires burning to prevent the cold weather from weakening the curing concrete. The aggressive schedule resulted in completion of 200 ft. of the buried inlet conduit and erection of the temporary gates at the, intake at the head of the conduit by January 7, 1911, when work shut down for the remainder of the winter. The gates would be used to control the flow of water through the inlet and outlet . works until the dam and permanent gate tower wvre completed. In this way, the lake could be used for irrigation under USRS' s phased construction plan. 54

Early in 1911, the USRS solicited bids to have the dam built by contract; contractors were asked to submit bids for both the hydraulic method and the rolled method. The notice to bidders stated that ·'the ultimate decision as to which method will be adopted will be made after the opening of the proposals and will depend on the relative economy and merits,ofthe design considered in connection with the__character_of the mat~riaLaYailahle for construction.,, Ultimately all proposals were rejected as too expensive, so the USRS received permission in April 1911 to build the dam by force account. 55

To accommodate the enlarged work force, the 1910 construction camp was necessarily expanded and the residential portion relocated slightly to the south in a wooded area by the road. The old

53 "Data for Committee of Special Advisers on Reclamation, Department of the Interior, Regarding Yakima Project, Washington," January 13, 1924, B-7, Fact Finders File, Project Reports, Box 1007, RG 115, FRC Denver; N. E. McDermut, United States Reclamation Service, "Final CostReport: Kachess Dam," January 1914, Water Resources Library, University of California at Berkeley, 23; Baldwin, 889-990; Lake Kachess Photo Album, 1897-1914, Upper Columbia Area Office. In 1995, remnants of these features were documented as part of this data-set. The Cascade Canal Company's crib . dam is WA-79-E. The cutoff channel and crib weir at its downstream end and the east crib abutment of the two-span truss bridge are documented as WA-79-G. See WA-79-G-9 through WA-79-G-l 1 for historic views. See site plan on page 27. 54 Baldwin, 991-993; "The Kachess Dam on the Yakima River," 101; "Data for Special Advisors," B-7.. 55 United States, United States Reclamation Service, "Advertisement, Proposal and Specifications, Yakima ·Project, Washington, Kachess Dam, Specifications No. 177," Washington, 1911, available at Upper Columbia Area Office; Annual Project Report for 1911, 3-4. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 30)

camp became the site of the corrals and shops. The larger camp was set up with typically segregated quarters: those for "foremen, clerks, mechanics, etc., were regularly spaced and at a uniform distance from the road. The laborers' quarters were similarly spaced but on a different thoroughfare."56 The "office men" were housed in frame buildings just east of the dam site, ·while the laborers lived to the riorth in wood-framed tent bunkhouses with board floors. Each tent accommodated twenty wood bunks; the completed temporary settlement could house 400 -people. The camp also included wood-frame buildings that housed an office, warehouse, mercantile store, kitchen, repair shop, and toilets and bathhouses. Two mess tents, each seating 160 men, flanked the kitchen, and six corral tents housed the mules and horses needed for the job. Although the camp was a temporary settlement, the main buildings had running water, , pumped out of the lake and stored in a pair of tanks located on a nearby hill. Hydrants placed throughout the camp provided additional access to water for firefighting purposes. The camp also had electricity and telephone service. 57

The camp's obvious function was to provide food and shelter for the workforce in this remote location, where local housing was not available. The USRS appears to have applied modem attitudes in camp planning. Contemporary accounts tend to characterize nineteenth-century camps as unplanned, rowdy places where workers pitched their own tents or slept outside. Often, they wa]ked away from a job when easier work cpuld be found nearby. Health conditions were often poor. In the early years of the twentieth century, however, articles outlining camp design began appearing in the American engineering press. The beneficial effect of establishing well­ planned camps had been dramatically.demonstrated during the construction of the Panama Canal, where organized, sanitary camps nearly eliminated the occurrence of yellow fever among · the' workforce and finally made possible the construction of the canal. While the health risks of \ working in camps in more northern climates were far less severe than those of the mosquito­ infested Panama Canal, the USRS promoted the health and welfare of its workforce in the name of efficiency. 58

At the Kachess camp, pursuit of this goal manifested itself in a few ways. The expanded camp was well organized; prior to its erection; a site plan had been established using a topographic map, and structures were placed according to their function. The USRS provided meals to the crew at a cost of 25 cents per meal; through three construction seasons, the mess reportedly served approximately 375,000 meals. The supply of running water contributed to a sanitary camp;. as did toilets and bathhouses. In 1911, the USRS a]so established a "well equipped"

56 Baldwin, 998. 57 Baldwin, 998-999; Lake Kachess Photo Album, 1897-1914, Upper Columbia Area Office; "Final Cost Report," 15, 18, 24. See WA-79-18, WA-79-19, WA-79-32, WA-79-34, and WA-79-35. See site plan on page 27. 58 Theodore P. Shonts, "What Has Been Accomplished at Panama," Engineering News 54 (November 16, 1905): · 512-513; A. J. Orenstein, "The Sanitation of the Canal Zone," Scientific American, November 9, 1912, 392; M. 0. Leighton, "Sanitary Regulations Governing Camps in the U.S. Reclamation Service," Engineering News 53 (January 19, 1905): 67. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 31)

hospital as the project required more men and the camp's population swelled. The resident. physician hired to staff the hospital doubled as the sanitary officer.59

In addition to food and sanitation, several amenities were offered. Just east of the cutoff channel, north of the laborers' housing, a clubhouse was built for "the benefit, amusement and welfare of the men." The clubhouse was stocked with games, books, magazines, and writing material (many workers left families to live at the camp while on the job). The "Y.M.C.A. Secretary" charged with running the clubhouse offered classes for workers "who wished to improve their education." E. H. Baldwin, the engineer in charge of construction at Kachess, claimed that the clubhouse "very successfully served its purpose of ente11aining the men and keeping them from a neighboring town which was not a 'dry' town." Another common tactic for keeping order in a · temporary camp was the provision of housing for families, which allowed married workers to bring their families to camp. The presence of women and children was thought to improve the demeanor of camp life. At the Kachess camp, a few family quarters were added in 1912 around the area near the Cascade Canal Company crib dam, on both sides of the Kachess River. They probably consisted of a small tent house for each family. 60

The 1911 construction season began in March with USRS staff and force account.. One of the first tasks was to test materials "to get as much information as possible before the contract bids were opened on April 15th, as at that time it would be ~ecessary to decide whether the sluicing or rolling method would be used in building the embankment." Crews identified two borrow pits to supply the material for the earthen dam. The· first pit was a half mile downstream· of the construction site on the northeast bank of the Kachess River. The gravelly material found there would be hauled to the site in dump cars on a short rail line laid for the purpose. The second site, which contained finer gravel that would be useful for the embankment's central and upstream sections, was located between the spillway and the east end of the dam site.61

·work to excavate the trench for the inlet conduit also resumed in March. As the trench approached the first crossing of the Kachess River, the excavated material was dumped across the river channel at the head of the cutoff channel to create a diversion dam. Once the river was diverted, excavation for the inlet conduit could continue to the second river crossing: This work continued until late August. Concrete for the horseshoe-type conduit was poured, beginning in May. Work for the upstream open lake inlet channel began in early June. USRS crews used an orange-peel dredge mounted on a wood raft, supplemented by blasting, to dig a channel I ;250 ft.

59 Baldwin, 998; "Final Cost Report," 15. 60 Baldwin, 998; United States, Department of the Interior, Tenth Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service · . (Washington, 1912), 231; "Annual Project Report, Storage Unit," Project Histories, Feature Histories, and Reports, 1902-1932, Box 633, RG 115, FRC Denver. 61 "Annual Project Report, 1911," 8; Baldwin, 990, 994, 996; "Data for Special Advisors," B-7; D. C. Henny to A. P. Davis, November 25, 1911, General Records, Washington, D.C. Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 32)

long and 12 ft. wide with sloping sides. Ultimately 105,000 cubic yards of material were removed.62

The site for the embankment and the outlet channel below the embankment needed to be cleared. Work began in April and continued until June. Once the trees were felled and the timber removed, the stumps were grubbed by explosives and then pulled out by donkey en~ine or teams of horses and mules. This was followed by stripping with teams and a drag scraper. 3

In May excavation began of the trench for the 300 ft. long outlet conduit through the dam's foundation and the 1,500 ft. outlet channel on its downstream side. Steam shovels were required to excavate the stone material encountered by the crews. In July, workers used teams'to dig a 20 ft. wide trench for the embankment's cutoff. A narrow trench along the centerline of the cutoff trench was dug for the concrete corewall. Plans called for the corewall to be founded on a bedrock base, but the hard cemented gravel material encountered while digging the trench was determined sufficiently stable and impermeable to serve as the corewall' s foundation. The corewall trench, which was 4 ft. wide, varied in depth from 20 ft. to 45 ft or 35 ft. to 75 ft. below the original ground surface and was about 800 ft. long. The material was excavated by hand and , hauled out in buckets. Work halted on September 1, so water could be released from the lake for seasonal irrigation. Once the temporary gates wei:e closed and the channels and trenches were sufficiently dry, concrete was poured for the base of the gate tower, the 12 ft. horseshoe-type outlet conduit through the embankment, and the 2 ft. thick corewall that rose to the height of the original ground surface. The open channel between the inlet conduit and the dam conduit was exc~vated and paved by early November. Paving-of the outlet channel below the embanr.ment. a]so began in November. 64

Work on the spillway also began in 1911 and continued intermittently throughout the remainder· of the construction period, depending on the deployment of the crews elsewhere on the site. -Situated on a low point in a ridge about half a mile east of the dam embankment site, the spillway was simply a natural channel controlled by a 4 ft. high, 250 ft. long concrete weir. Dry ·stone paving, 6 in. deep, protected the bottom and sloped sides of the 50 ft. section approaching the weir; a 12 ft. depth of similar paving protected the area just below the weir. Beyond the ·paving, water would flow down a natural depression to the river below the dam. The spillway was designed to carry 7,200 second-feet of water over its 4 ft. high weir, the amount of the maximum flood recorded at the lake. 65

6·2 "Annual Project Report, 1911," 21-29; Baldwin, 990-991; "The Kachess Dam in the Yakima River," 101. The inlet channel is documented as WA-79-F. See WA-79-F-10 through WA-79-F-17. 63 "Annual Project Rep,ort, 1911," 20. · 64 Baldwin, 992-994; "The Kachess Dam in the Yakima River," 102; "Annual Project Report, 1911," 34, 38. See WA-79-8, WA-79-9, WA-79-A-3, and WA-79-D-15 for historic photographs of the work and WA-79-31 for a construction drawing. · 65 Baldwin, 990, 995-6; "Data for Special Advisors," B-7. See WA-79-C-3 through WA-79-C-5 for historic photographs of the work. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 33)

By November 1911, the principal tasks remaining were the construction of the permanent tower and gatehouse and the embankment. A determination had been made to use rolled earth:fill instead of the hydraulic method because of the nature of the available materials and the site conditions. Consulting Engineer Benny sent a detailed report to Director Davis. Davis, in turn, advised Swigart and Hermy to use a traction engine instead of an ordinary road roller to . consolidate the layers of earth.66

. The conduit and corewall trenches were backfilled in early 1912, once the concrete had set and the forms removed. In March construction began on a timber trestle parallel and adjacent to the centerline of the dam that would be used to build the dam's embankment. The trestle was about 800 ft. long and its tallest sections averaged about 60 ft. in height. Crews laid a double railroad track on top of the trestle, which was built higher than the proposed crest of the dam. Material from nearby borrow pits was hauled in dump cars pulled by a nine-ton locomotive to the trestle . . The cars dumped fill from the trestle to the ground below, where teams pulling earth scrapers called fresnos spread it across the dam site in even layers, 8 in. deep. The material was sprinkled with water. Steam rollers then compacted each layer.of fill to 6 in. to eliminate voids in the embankment. As the dam rose, the trestle's supporting structure was buried inside it, although· the bracing timbers were removed as the compacted layers of fill provided more support for the piles. Finer sediment made up the upstream two-thirds of the embankment to inhibit water percolation, and coarser gravel composed the remaining downstrean1 third to allow drainage of seepage. This zoned arrangement was meant to keep the dam relatively watertight. The fill was placed and compacted in a four-month period. A 2 ft. layer of riprap laid over a 3 ft. depth of . small stones protected the upstream slope of the embankment from wave action. A layer of small · stones, ranging in thickness from 10 in. at the bottom of the slope to 6 in. at the top, also covered the downstream slope. This downstream layer helped to hold the embankment material in place. To collect and discharge water that did penetrate the dam, two drainage trenches had been installed in 1911 at the foundation line before fill was placed for the embankment. The first was a 6 ft. to 10 ft. wide, rock-filled trench that ran along the downstream toe of the embankment. Crews laid the second drain, composed of 12 in. vitreous tiles, 30 to 60 ft. upstream of the rock­ filled trench. 67

. In May 1912, as the embankment rose layer by layer, work began on the permanent gatehouse and tower. Crews erected a 110 ft. tall timber framework next to the gatehouse and tower site ·and equipped it with an elevator. Forms were built for the tower walls, which consisted of three sets of three compartments. Concrete mixed on the ground was lifted on the elevator and directed through movable chutes into the forms. The concreting crew worked by day, and at night a second shift set forms and reinforcing steel in preparation for the next day's pour. Two sets of

66 Benny to Davis, November 25, 1911; Davis to Swigart, December 1, 1911; "Estimated Cost of Storage Works- Lake Kachess," December 5, 1911, 3. · 67 Baldwin, 996-998; D. C. Benny to A. P. Davis, November 25, 1911, General Records, Washington, D.C:Entry 3, · Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver; "Kachess Dam on the Yakima River," 102. See WA-79-10 through WA- 79-15 for historic photographs of the work. KACHESSDAM HAER No. W A-79 (Page 34)

_ three 4 ft. x 10 ft. cast-iron sluice gates were installed in the base of the tower to serve as the operating and emergency gates. A 5 horsepower turbine was installed in the base of the tower and connected by stems and gears rising through the tower to operating mechanisms in the gatehouse. The concrete gatehouse, 15 ft. x 23 ft., employed pilaster and curtain-wall construction, and was topped by a tile roof. The entrance. on the south face was flanked by four­ over-four double-hung sash windows. Three similar windows were on the north face, and one window was on each of the east and west faces. USRS crews installed a four-span Warren-truss steel footbridge linking the completed gatehouse to the crest of the dam. Around the same time, workers also erected a two-story, wood-frame Watchman's House southeast of the dam to serve as a residence for the dam tender and his family. 68

By November 1912, Kachess Dam was complete. Crews packed up the construction equipment and sent it by rail to Lake Keechelus, site of the next dam to be built for the Storage Unit. Only minor work remained to be done at Kachess, such as clearing timber between the old lakeshore · and the new reservoir shoreline. The USRS had let a contract for timber removal before construction began, but the contractor never did the work. After construction, the USRS sent in its own forces to clear the timber, selling the wood for a profit. The area was never cleared of trees completely, despite the several seasons' worth of work done after construction. 69

The USRS left the construction camp largely intact while the final work was ongoing. A couple of exceptions included the Y.M.C.A. and some miscellaneous tent frames, which may have been removed for immediate reuse at another site. The remaining Kachess camp structures, many of ,:which· lay in the area that would be inundated, must have been removed in the next couple of years as the reservoir level gradually rose.

Frederick Newell personally inspected the Yakima Valley after the first irrigation season following completion of the dam. "The general conditions are excellent," he wrote enthusiastically to the Secretary of the Interior in November 1913. "Here, as elsewhere, the year 1913 has been a marked improvement over 1912, both in amount and quality of crops and in prices." The cost ofland had long been inflated in the valley, in NewelFs opinion, but he noted "the farmers are well pleased with the outlook and some, who in 1912, were apparently hopeless have paid their old debts and even are putting money into improvements. The most hopeful sign, however, is the notable increase in the number of cattle and hogs and the building of silos by the score throughout the valley. Thousands of new orchards are being planted, but, at the same time, many of the older and less profitable orchards are being cut down and the land put into alfalfa or

·68 Baldwin, 995; "Final Cost Report," 25; United States, Department of the Interior, Twelfth Annual Report ofthe Reclamation Service (Washington, 1914), 229; United States Reclamation Service, "Kachess Dam General Map," · Upper Columbia Area Office. The gatehouse and tower are documented as WA-79-D. See.WA-79-D-16 through · WA-79-24 for historic photographs of the work and construction drawings. The Watchman's ·House is recorded in WA~79-20. 69 Baldwin, 998; ''Final Cost Report," 6; "Annual Project Report, Storage Unit, Season 1912," 43, Project Histories, Feature Histories, and Reports, 1902-1932, Box 633, RG 115, FRC Denver. See WA-79-16 and WA-79-17 for timber clearing. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 35) root crops." Newell further explained that newcomers to the region remained skittish about buying the high-priced land, but that those familiar with the valley were paying the land prices, "demonstrating their optimism for success." The increase in productivity and dramatic change in the farmers' attitude can be attributed to the contribution the two completed storage reservoirs, Bumping Lake and Kachess, made to the water supply for the Yakima Valley. 70

Changes to Kachess Dam

The first annual inspection of the dam came on March 14, 1914, after the structure had been in use more than a year. Paul Taylor, the inspecting engineer, reported very little settlement and seepage and noted the excellent concrete work on the gatehouse and tower. Subsequent · inspections showed that the dam settled very little, although it had shifted slightly downstream in its first year or two of use. By 1940, Taylor noticed some leaking at one end of the embankment when the reservoir was at its highest level; subsequent inspections indicated that the buried wood trestle piers had begun rotting. As timbers decomposed, they left voids in the embankment and allowed slight settlement. Repairs were recommended but not immediately made. Other features of the dam and reservoir generally weathered well, undergoing slight modifications or repairs as necessary. 71

In 1927, Taylor wrote a separate memo outlining the need for a spillway channel. The reservoir at Kachess was intentionally built larger than would be required for the yearly average rnnoff, allowing for additional storage of floodwaters. ltTigation requirements, however, had not so far demanded that Kachess employ its additional storage space. The resulting policy was to avoid use of the spillway by keeping the lake level relatively low and using the outlet works to discharge flood waters when necessary. By the late 1920s, however, regional agriculture began requiring more water for irrigation, and Kachess Reservoir needed to store more water for the growing irrigation project. This increased the likelihood of using the spillway at some point. In addition, a channel would be needed to direct and contain any water spilled over the weir. 72

During the original constrnction period, the construction of a spillway channel did not seem cost­ effective, given its intended role as an emergency backup. In his inspection in 1928,Taylor noted that ''although we have asked for funds for its constrnction each year, so far these funds have never been allotted." Concluding his J928 report, Taylor urged that "this channel should be built as soon as funds can possibly be secured." C. E. Crownover, Reclamations's Project Engineer for the Storage Unit, also chimed in that year with a more explicit argument: "Any attempt to handle large quantities of water or anything approaching the spillways [sic] rated capacity would

7°F. H. Newell tc Franklin Lane, November 5, 1913, General Records, Washington, D.C., Entry 3, Yakima Box 1020, RG 115, FRC Denver. 71 United States, Department of the Interior, Reclamation Service, Washington Division, Yakima Project, "Inspection: Kachess Dam and Reservoir," available at Upper Columbia Area Office. This volume includes inspection reports from 1914 through 1949. 72 P. Taylor to Lytel, Yakima, October 14, 1927, in "Inspection: Kachess Dam and Reservoir." KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 36) quickly undermine the structure and present an extremely dangerous situation. A considerable sum of money will be required to.:eomplete this spillway but it should be immediately provided and a safe spillway channel constructed at the earliest possible date." By 1933, Tarlor observed that "topographic conditions are better for a spillway at the other end of the dam." 3

A few months after Taylor's 1933 inspection, the Yakima Valley was inundated by one of its worst floods on record. An early, heavy snowfall, followed soon after by intense rainfall, created high water that washed out railroads and highways, isolating the valley for a few days. While some residents credited the dams with limiting the severity of the flood by storing water, others criticized the Bureau of Reclamation (reorganized and renamed in 1923) for discharging water through spillways and outlet works while the valley was flooded. Reclamation defended its action by explaining that water was released after the flood had peaked and that the discharge was necessary to avoid damage to the embankments. Taylor reported that water had been discharged at Kachess because it was in danger of flowing over the spillway. He concluded that "any quantity of water over the spillway of this dam would likely wash out the spillway structure and cause considerable damage." In 1935, Taylor again recommended construction of an entirely new, "usable" spillway. He noted that "no water has ever been allowed to pass over" the existing weir, apparently forgetting that he reported in 1916 that "the spillway was in actual use for less than 24 hours during the whole season."74 . • · .

The Denver office of the Bureau of Reclamation drew.up plans before the end of the year, calling for a new spillway near the west end of Kachcss Dam. The new spillway would be controlled by a single radial gate resting on a low concrete weir. The top of the gate would rest at an elevation •of2,262 ft., matching the maximum water stage of the reservoir. Reclamation solicited bids for the spillway in January 1936, and awarded the contract to John Klug of Nyssa, Oregon, the lowest of nine bidders. Work was to be completed by the end of the year. In May, crews began clearing the site at the southwest end of the dam with a bulldozer. Two shifts a day used a drag­ line excavator to dig the channel, which was complete by early June. The contractor also plugged the old spillway with an earthen dike that .entirely covered the weir and the paved aprons above and below it. Sections of the lined aprons were removed in order to key the earth dike into the ground. The crest of the dike was topped with 12 in.. of gravelly blue day from the spillway excavation, and was built up to an elevation of 2,268 ft., measuring 8 ft. over the reservoir's maximum water stage. The upstream face was covered with a 2 ft. deep layer ofriprap.75

73 Swigart to Newell, May 16, 1910; "Estimated and Actual Cost of U.S. Reclamation Bureau Dams," Engineering and Contracting 67 (August 1928): 424; C. E. Crownover, "Inspections ofKeechelus Dam, Kachess Dam, Cle Elum Dam, Bumping Lake Dam, Tieton Dam" September 1928, available at Upper Columbia Area Office. Also see inspection reports from 1916, 1928, and 1933 in "Inspection: Kachess Dam and Reservoir." . 74 J. S. Moore to H. W. Ehlert, February 21, 1934, General Correspondence Files, Box 1497, Yakima Engineering 1931-1935, Box 780, RG 115, FRC Denver; and Paul Taylor, "The Yakima River Flood of December 1933 and January 1934," Project Reports 1910-1955, Box 890, RG 115, FRC Denver. Also see inspection report from 1935 in "Inspection: Kachess Dam and Reservoir." 75 "Annual Project History, Yakima Project, 1936," 59-61, Project Histories, Feature Histories, and Reports, 1902- 1932, Box 633, RG 115, FRC Denver. The 1936 spillway is documented as WA-79-B and the dike closing the KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 37)

Reclamation's contract for the work stipulated that 90 percent of the labor come from public relief rolls through the Works Progress Administration. The resulting labor force hailed mainly from the Yakima Valley towns of Cle Elum and Roslyn, which had been a coal-mining area. The contractor found that the workers' lack of experience on construction projects required more foremen on the job than was generally necessary. The work, however, was completed according to schedule and in good form. 76

Another Federal relief project associated with Kachess Dam during this period was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A CCC camp was established in 1935 to clear the dead timber that had not been removed from the flooded areas before the reservoir filled. Debris from'the dead timber threatened to damage the outlet works, and, by 1930, enough timber debris had accumulated to warrant a workforce to deal with it. Reclamation received authorization to use CCC labor in 1935 and promptly set up a summer camp at the reservoir. Work consisted of felling trees and clearing debris in the reservoir area. Enrollees were trained in fire fighting and logging by experienced foresters. CCC forces used the camp again in 1936 and 1939. Taylor's 1936 report on the work reflected enthusiasm for the CCC program. The report on the camp claimed that the "work proved a wonderful benefit to the enrollees .. ·.. Through regular hours of work, study and recreation they found their physical, spiritual, and moral natures stimulated, and their educational background improved. They gained experience and confidence for meeting the problems of life, and were imbued with the principles of better American life."77

In 1952, the Bureau of Reclamation undertook some rehabilitation work to correct damage to the outlet works. The yearly cycle of freezing and thawing had eroded some concrete in the paved open.inlet channel, and the resulting damage created more violent flows through the works. The· headwall at the outlet channel-which originally read "USRS 1911 "-was refaced with concrete, and parts of the channel downstream were repaired. 78

Regular maintenance and repair work was ongoing at the site. The roof on the gatehouse was removed ·sometime before 1960 and replaced with a gable roof sheathed in metal. Between 1969 and.1971, the Watchman's House and other remaining camp structures (which had not been

original spillway is documented as WA-79-C. See WA-79-B-6 through WA-79-B-16 and WA-C-7 through WA-79- C-9 for historic photographs of the work. . . 76 United States; Bureau of Reclamation, "Report of the Kachess Dam Spillway Construction" by Assistant Engineer Gilbert G. Rollstin, 1937, 50, 56, available at Upper Columbia Area Office. 77 The Civilian'Conservation Corps was a relief-era program that trained unemployed young men in a military-style camp setting to do conservation work. The federal program was in effect from 1933 through 1942. See Pfaff, 115- 119. PaulTaylor completed a short report on CCC work at Kachess; see "Clearing Kachess Reservoir Area·with · CCC Forces,>,Project Reports 1910-1955, Box 779, RG 115, FRC Denver. For historic photographs pertaining to CCC work see WA-79-21 through WA-79-26. · 78-"Final Report, Rehabilitation Kachess Dam Outlet Specs lOOc-126," Project Reports 1910-1955, Box 780, RG 115, FRC Denver. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 38)

within the reservoir area) were removed.79 In 1980, hydraulic cylinders were installed to replace the original gate hoists. Additional alterations were made to the gatehouse, including replacement of the original doors with insulated double doors and removal of the original · double-hung sash. All window openings were filled with concrete. 80

The 1996 Rehabilitation

In the· early 1990s, Reclamation determined that the outlet works needed to be replaced as they had deteriorated from age and long use, and were no longer safe or serviceable. Therefore, in 1996, the gatehouse, gate tower,.original slide gates and their operating mechanisms were replaced and the outlet conduit and channel were relined. A new gate bypass channel' controlled by a butterfly valve was added. The new gatehouse was designed to resemble the original structure, but has solid concrete walls without windows. The door is centered in the facade facing the dam, accessed by way of the pedestrian bridge. The pyramid roof restores the profile of the original gatehouse, and the rnst-colored metal roofing attempts to mimic the look of the original tile; The new gates are 4'6" x 8'0" slide gates operated by hydraulic cylinders installed in the gatehouse. The gatehouse also shelters a one-ton overhead crane set on I-beams that run across the north end of the structure. A new four-span prefabricated footbridge replaced the existing bridge.81 •

Concurrent with the outlet works replacement, Reclamation also rehabilitated the inlet channel. The original buried conduit segment of the inlet channel had always been subject to clogging ,.with silt and also at 9 ft. was too m1...-row in diameter to pass the needed volume of water. fa the rehabilitation, .a new discharge channel was dug adjacent to the existing conduit. The initial open segment of the inlet was also dredged to within 2 feet of its original width and eroding sections stabilized with rock. 82 .

Conclusion

Kachess Dam and Reservoir with a capacity of239,000 acre-feet continue to serve the Yakima Project by providL11g nearly a quarter of the stored water to the valley's nearly half a million irrigate~ acres. Along with the other dams and reservoirs of the Storage Unit, Kachess helped ttansfo.qn the valley into fertile farmland by collecting and regulating the region's formerly .. unreliable water supply. By the 1950s, the Yakima Valley was known as the "Fruit Bowl of the Nation." In addition, the valley's farmers raised vegetables, forage, hops, and mint as well as dairy cattle and livestock. The impact of the facilities of the Storage Unit illustrates the potency

79 Photographic files available at the Upper Columbia Area Office. 80 "Kachess Dam Rehabilitation of Gate House and Outlet Gate Hoists," November 1979, available at the Upper Columbia Area Office; United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, "Finding ofNo Significant hnpact and Final Environmental Assessment, Modifications to Kachess Dain," April 1996, Section 3, 7. 81 "Finding of No Significant Impact," 1-3. 82 "Finding ofNo Significant Impact," 2, Fig. 1, 2-1 - 2-3. See WA-79-F-20 and WA-79-F-21 for drawings pertaining to this work. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 39) of the valley's integrated system of storage and supply that proved possible only through Federal involvement. As a component of the Yakima Project, Kachess has formed a vital part of Reclamation's mission "to make.the arid West bloom."83

83 For infon;natiort on the agricultural benefits of the Yakima Pr~ject see Yakima Project Circular, Project Data Book, 6; United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, "Yakima Federal Reclamation Project,'-' [1950], Project Reports 1910-1955, Box 855, RG 115, FRC Denver; Pfaff, 138, 143. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 40)

III. SOURCES

ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS · Historical files. Upper Columbia Area Office, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Yakima, Washington. Kachess Dam Spillway Drawings. Technical Service Center, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Kachess Dam Drawings. Upper Columbia Area Office, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Yakima, Washington. Record Group 115, Bureau of Reclamation. National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Records Center, Denver, Colorado. Water Resources Archive, University of California at Berkeley.

HISTORIC VIEWS Lake Kachess Photo Album, 1897-1914. Upper Columbia Area Office, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Yakima, Washington. Photographic files. Upper Columbia Area Office, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation, Yakima, Washington.

PTJBLISHED SOURCES "Administration of Streams in Irrigation." Journal ofthe Western Society ofEngineers 8 (1903): 100. Baldwin, E. H. "Construction of the Kachess Dam, Washington." Engineering News 69 (May 15, 1913): 989-999. "Belle Fourche Dam, Belle Fourche Project, South Dakota." Engineering Record 53 (March 3, 1906): 307-310. "Belle Fourche Irrigation Works, South Dakota." Engineering News 55 (February 22, 1906): 210-212. Coman, Katharine. "Some Unsettled Problems of Irrigation." American Economic Review 1 (March 1911): 1-19. Coulter, Calvin Brewster. "The New Settlers on the Yakima Project, 1880-1910." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 61 (1970): 10-2L ____. "The Victory of National Irrigation in the Yakima Valley, 1902-1906." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 42 (April 1951): 99-122. "Estimated and Actual Cost of U.S. Reclamation Bureau Dams." Engineering and Contracting 67 (August 1928): 424. "A Glimpse at Yakima Valley, Washington." Irrigation Age 7 (1894): n.p. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 41)

Golze, Alfred R. Reclamation in the United States. New York: McGraw Hill, 1952. Henny, D. C. "Two Earth Dams of the United States Reclamation Service." American Society of Civil Engineers Proceedings 37 (April 1911): 458-605. Howlett, L. S. "Washington: The Eastern Portion ofthe State Rapidly Developing Irrigation Enterprises." Irrigation Age 2 (1892): 435-436. "Kachess Dam on the Yakima River in Washington." Engineering Record 65 (January 27, 1912): 101. Leighton, M. 0. "Sanitary Regulations Governing Camps in the U.S. Reclamation Service." Engineering News 53 (January 19, 1905): 67. Leonard, John William. Who's Who in American Engineering. New York: John W. Leonard Corporation, 1922. Lyman, W. D. "Irrigation in the Valley." Chap. 4 in History ofthe Yakima Valley, Washington. Vol. 1. N.p.: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1919. Mead, Elwood. "Irrigation in the United States." Transactions ofthe American Society ofCivil Engineers54 (1905): 83-110. ___. ''Rise and Future of Irrigation in the United States." In Yearbook ofthe Department of Agriculture, 1899, 591-612. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900. Nesbit, Robert C., and Charles M. Gates. "Agriculture in Eastern Washington, 1890-1910." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 37.(1946): 279-302. Newell, F. H. "Federal Land Reclamation: A National Problem, Part 1. Origin, Problems and Achievements of Federal Land Reclamation." Engineering News-Record 91 (October 25, 1923): 666-673. ____. "The Yakima River in Washington." IrrigationAge 7 (January 1894): 24-25. Orenstein, A. J. "The Sanitation of the Canal Zone." Scientific American, November 9, 1912, 392-393, 405. Pfaff, Christine. Harvests ofPlenty: A History ofthe Yakima Irrigation Project, Washington. Denver: United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 2001. Shonts, Theodore P. "What Has Been Accomplished at Panama." Engineering News 54 (November 16, 1905): 512-513. Smythe, William. The Conquest ofArid America. Norwood, Mass.: Norwood Press, 1905. United States. Department of Agriculture. Office of Experiment Stations. Irrigation in the Yakima Valley, Washington. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907. United States. Department of the Interior. United States Geological Survey. Annual Reports of the Reclamation Service, 1902-1905. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903- 1906. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 42)

United States. Department of the Interior. Annual Reports ofthe Reclamation Service, 1906- 1922. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907-1922. United States. Department of the Interior. Annual Reports ofthe Bureau ofReclamation, 1923- 1926. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1923-1926. United States. Department of the Interior. Dams and Control Works. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938. Walker, F. C. Development ofEarth Dam Design in the Bureau ofReclamation. Denver: Bureau ofReclamation, 1958. Warne, William E. The Bureau ofReclamation. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.'

UNPUBLISHED SOURCES Boening, Rose Marie. "The History of Irrigation in the State of Washington." Masters Thesis, University of Washington, 1918. "Boise Project, Deer Flat Embankment, Historic American Engineering Record (ID-17-B)." 1991. Report prepared by Fredric Quivak with Amy Slaton. United States. Department of the Interior. Bureall;_ of Reclamation. "Finding of No Significant Impact and Final Environmental Assessment, Modifications to Kachess Dam." April 1996. ___. "Yakima Project Circular (Region Revision 10/83), Project Data Book." Available at Bureau of Reclamation Library, Denver Federal Center, Colorado.

NEWSPAPERS Cle Elum (Washington) Tribune, 1910-1913. Yakima (Washington) Democrat, 1902-1904. Yakima (Washington) Morning Herald, 1910-1912. KACHESSDAM HAER No. WA-79 (Page 43)

IV. PROJECT INFORMATION

In the 1990s, the Bureau of Reclamation determined that modifications to the outlet works at Kachess Dam were necessary to correct identified operational deficiencies. To mitigate the effect of alterations to the property, which has been determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, Reclamation commissioned this Historic American Engineering Record documentation. A draft report was completed in 1999 by Hess, Roise and Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, under contract to the Bureau of Reclamation. Cynthia de Miranda served as Project Historian and Charlene K. Roise as Principal Investigator. Marjorie Pearson, Ph.D., of Hess Roise, serving as Senior Historian, completed a revision in 2003. Bhotographer and delineator Clayton B. Fraser of Fraserdesign in Loveland, Colorado, worked under a subcontract with Hess Roise. Large-format photography that documented the site before the alterations in 1996 was completed by J. Thomas Wilson and by Harvey S. Rice under separate contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation. ADDENDUM TO: HAER WA-79 KACHESS DAM HAER WA-79 Kachess River, 1.5 miles north of Interstate 90 Easton vicinity Kittitas County Washington

REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD PACIFIC WEST REGIONAL OFFICE National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 333 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94104