The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1918-08-03
CITY WATER
IS INVOLVED
ACTION COMMENCED TO DIVERT
ALL PRESENT FLOW FROM
CITY SPRINGS
Rancher Asks Injunction to Prevent
City from Taking Flow of Stream
From City Springs

A case of most vital interest to
Colville was heard in it's initial stage
in the court room Wednesday morning
before Judge D. H. Carey, the action
being that of James Chase against
the city Of Colville, calling for an in
junction that would prevent the city
from furnishing water to.the patrons
of the city water system during the
summer months.
Mr. Chase is a rancher east of the
city, and part of his land is crossed
by the city water pipes which bring
water from the city's springs further
east of the city. He alleged in his
demand for an injunction that the
water from these springs always ran
over his land, as much as three cubic
feet of water per second at times.
In 1905 the city tapped the springs,
and flumed and piped 2 cubic feet of
water per second into the city water
mains. AS the flume ran over his
land, the city and he agreed for the
time being as to the proper division
of the waters from the springs, but
the substance of this agreement is
now in dispute.
On July l of this year the city en-
larged it's use of the water according
to Mr.. Chase, through his attorney L..
C. Jesseph, and it is claimed that the
city now takes all of the water, leav-
ing none for his household use. He
prayed that the city be enjoined from
diverting one cubic foot per second
from this source-which is practically
all the water now flowing.
A granting of this injunction would
mean that the city of Colville would
be entirely without water during the
summer months, and short of water
during other months of the year. The
city, through City Attorney w. H..
Jaskson, appeared in defense of the
rights of the residents of the city
who were dependent upon this city
water supply for all household uses
and for fire protection.
At the hearing on the petition for
a temporary injunction Wednesday
morning, Judge Carey informed the
attorneys that he would not preside
over the formal hearing of the action
as he was an interested party-being
a Colville resident and taxpayer and
patron of the city water system-but
that he would secure judge satisfac-
tory to both sides.
AS a temporary decision he ruled
that Chase's rights to the water were
of prior nature, and that the full
amount of 1 cubic foot per second
might possibly be within his legal
right, but that temporarily he should
be allowed only such amount as might
be necessary for domestic purposes.
He also allowed until today for the
parties to the action to see if divi-
sion of the water might be made by
the interested parties, in manner
satisfactory to both, by boxes or by
some means whereby the city could
have as much water as possible until
final hearing.
Judge Carey stated that in any
event the city would be given time to
start condemnation proceedings if it
appeared that no compromise could be
made. He also told some plain facts
when he stated that the city has
known all these years of this unsat-
isfactory situation, yet has taken no
action to secure rights to the full
flow of water, and that it appeared
to the court that if the various en-
gineers' reports could be relied upon,
the city would eventually lose all its
supply of water from this source.
Need Better Supply
For years it has been known that
Colville needs more certain water
supply than the few springs emerg-
ing from the gravel beds east Of the
city, which flow well during the great
er part Of the year, but which are in
sufficient in the summer months.
Years ago an effort was made to
have the city secure the Mill creek
water rights, but this was not done,
and now it is hardly feasible to at
tempt this plan, as the development
of the Mill creek valleys has brought
in many settlers, and it would be next
to impossible to secure a pure supply
without going miles up the creek.
Several years ago Spokane engin-