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The Columbia Basin Project: Promise and Reality

Between 1952 and 1960, nearly 500,000 acres in the Columbia Basin Project (CBP) received water—an impressive achievement, but far less than the million acres originally anticipated by promoters. What happened to the promise of thousands of family farms?

Map courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Interior

In the first years of the CBP, project regulations limited farms to 40 acres and husbands and wives together could own 80 acres. Eighty acres, however, was not sufficient to make a profit and for many, it was not enough to feed a family. By 1957 the cap was adjusted to 160 acres, or up to 320 acres for married couples. Farmers could lease additional farm units with approval by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Despite having tripled their Moses Lake holdings, Farm-In-A-Day recipients Donald Dunn and his family returned to the Midwest after just three years, unable to make a living. A second owner of the farm left after just two years and the third was able to stay through the 1970s by leasing adjacent property and increasing his holdings to 455 acres. Even after the acreage allowance increased, many people had to hold part-time jobs in Moses Lake to supplement farm income.

The dream of self-sufficiency conflicted with the realities of inadequate land, irrigation expenses, and the demands of modern agriculture. This dream also clashed with the necessity of depending on a large, seasonal work force, rather than family members alone, to cultivate and harvest irrigated crops. 

 
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