White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-02-05
Only A Few
Districts Are
In Trouble
Great Majority Of Irriga.
ton Districts in Good
Shape Says Auditor

I WHERE Tue PIlySlCdl COll4ltloUS Oh III
irrigation project are fundamentally
sound and its business is managed
through an irrigation district and
where it receives proper cooperation
from the water users, there is no
reason why it would not be success,
was one of the many points brought
out by ]. M, Rummel of Yakima,
state auditor for irrigation districts.
in an address at the White Bluffs
high school auditorium last Saturday
afternoon.
Mr.. Rummel did not make any set
speach but talked more at random,
touching on points of finances and
management of irrigation districts
in which he thought local people
might be interested. A great deal of
information along this line was
brought out in answer to questions
asked by different ones in the audi
ence.
Bad news always travels faster and
further than good news, Mr.. Rummel
that we hear lot about the few
districts in the state that are in
financial difficulties, but little about
the large per centage Of them that
are doing well. He named five pro-
jects whose finances are in bad shape.
Two of these are in Benton County,
two in Franklin and the fifth, small
one, near Spokane. The financial con-
dition of the other forty or fifty dis
tricts in the state ranges from good to
splendid, Mr.. Runmel said.
He emphasized the necessity of the
cooperation of the water users and in
this connection pointed out that the
troubles of the two districts In this
county that are in difficulties, are due
in large measure to a lack of this
cooperation. However, in answer to
question as to the fundamental cause
for the troubles of these five dis
tricts, Mr.. Rummel explained that in
each instance the project was started
by private corporation and was
practically broke when the irrigation
district was organized in the hope of
saving it. When it was pointed out to
him that private corporation had
project in this valley, Mr.. Rummel
replied that that might be true but
none of the five districts in distress
could boast of the asset that this
project has in having power project
tied in with it."
Mr.. Rummel has held the position
Of state auditor of irrigation districts
for the past 18 years and has an
intimate knowledge of the financial
condition of all the districts in the
state His visit here was made on invi-
tation of those men who have been
working to get the Priest Rapids
Irrigation district in shape to bid on
the properties at the receivership sale
on February 81. AS it now seems
likely that the irrigation district will
acquire the properties at the sale,
any information regarding the opera
ton of districts is of interest to any
one here and the audience of nearly
100 persons showed this interest by
the questions asked of Mr.. Rummel,
and by the passage of resolution at
the close of the meeting thanking him
for the visit.
E. G. Campbell, county assessor of
Rummel on the trip over here and
upon invitation made short talk just
before the meeting closed. He said
that the present members of the
board of county commissioners Of
Yakima county were broad and fair
minded men and that he believed il
it could be shown to them that the
assessed valuation of the Priest Rapids
power plant had been too high, they
would cooperate in securing the proper
court order to have the valuation re-
duced which would result in a reduc-
ton of the taxes that have accumu-
lated during the past four years.
Speaking of the possibilities of an
irrigation district making success
of this project, Mr.. Campbell said he
was one of the original land owners
under the Teton project near Yak
ina and still owns the same farm;
that that project was started from the
sage brush with an eventual charge
Of $3.50 an acre for the water right
and an annual maintenance from the
beginning of from S11 to $13 per acre.
The project has been practically all
settled and has good roads, good
schools, telephones, electric lights and
all of the improvements and conven-
fences of a modern, up-to-date COM
rnunity. In answer to a question, Mr..
Campbell said that the canal furnish
ing water for the Teton project was
strung along a mountain side for II
miles before any water was taken out
for irrigation. He said he saw no
difference here from the Tietot and
if the people in the latter district
could take a project in tn raw state
with the handicaps they had to over
come he saw no reason why the set
tiers here with IL or IS hundred acres
Of improved land to start with and
with only engagements and repairs
to the project facing them he could
see no reason in the world why they