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Battling the Bureau: the struggle for irrigation in Ellis County, Kansas, 1920-1962
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Battling the Bureau: the struggle for irrigation in Ellis County, Kansas, 1920-1962
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Description
Author
Vancil
,
Chris
Title
Battling
the
Bureau
: the
struggle
for
irrigation
in
Ellis
County
,
Kansas
,
1920-1962
Degree Program
History
Abstract
In
1951
the
Bureau
of
Reclamation
completed
construction
on
Cedar
Bluff
Dam
and
Reservoir
located
in
Trego
County
,
Kansas
.
Although
the
dam
was
built
as a
multi-purpose
unit
,
it
was
built
primarily
to
provide
irrigation
in a
small
portion
of
Trego
County
and a
larger
portion
of
Ellis
County
,
Kansas
.
However
,
before
the
dam
was
completed
,
Cedar
Bluff
became
immersed
in a
controversy
of
conflicting
views
between
the
Bureau
,
pro-irrigation
forces
, and
anti-irrigation
forces
. From
t
his
controversy
three
distinct
views
of
irrigation
emerged
. The
Bureau
of
Reclamation
(BOR)
considered
the
Cedar
Bluff
Irrigation
project
as
another
component
of its
larger
Missouri
River
Basin
project
. The
BOR
hoped
that
Cedar
Bluff
would
stabilize
agriculture
in the
area
.
Pro-irrigation
forces
also
saw
irrigation
as a
stabilizing
factor
.
However
,
local
irrigation
supporters
never
fully
embraced
the
basin
wide
view
held
by the
Bureau
.
Instead
, they
saw
irrigation
as an
opportunity
for
localized
success
.
Anti-irrigation
forces
rejected
irrigation
as a
stabilizing
factor
.
Instead
they
saw
irrigation
as
financially
risky
and
culturally
corrosive
. These
divergent
views
generated
controversy
throughout
the
creation
of
Cedar
Bluff
. The
BOR
entered
Ellis
and
Trego
counties
expecting
to
find
dry
land
and
eager
farmers
.
Instead
local
farmers
attacked
them.
Rather
than
crumble
under
federal
pressure
,
anti-irrigation
forces
sue
in the
Office
of the
Chief
Engineer
of the
Kansas
State
Department
of
Agriculture
,
Division
of
Water
Resources
. The
Chief
Engineer
of
Kansas
and the
District
Court
rejected
anti-irrigation
arguments
.
When
the
courts
failed
to
provide
the
solution
that
anti-irrigation
supporters
sought
, they
turned
to
political
pressure
and the
threat
of
violence
. The
result
of this
protracted
conflict
was that the
Cedar
Bluff
Irrigation
District
took
10
years
to
form
and
another
4
years
to
begin
drawing
substantial
amounts
of
water
from
Cedar
Bluff
.
Even
though
the
District
formed
,
all
of those
involved
felt
the
sting
of
defeat
. For the
BOR
, the
Cedar
Bluff
project
proved
timely
and
costly
. For
irrigation
supporters
, the
district
was
only
half
of the
original
proposal
and
water
for that
district
ran
out
by
1978
. For
anti
-
irrigation
forces
, the
BOR
and
pro-irrigation
forces
proved
too
powerful
to
defeat
completely
. In the
end
, the
Cedar
Bluff
controversy
proved
that the
history
of
water
resource
development
in the
American
West
is
a
complicated
process
that
defies
generalizations
.
Date Original
2001
Publisher
Fort Hays State University
Relation
Digital reproduction of the Fort Hays State University Theses Collection.
Type
Text
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
VancilChris_2001_web.pdf
Source
LD2652 .T5 H5 V355 2001
Language
eng
Relation-Requires
Adobe Reader is required to view this item. Download at
http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
Rights
Copyright 2001 Chris Vancil
Access Requirements
Off campus access to Forsyth Library Resources -
http://www.fhsu.edu/library/electronic/off-campus-access/
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