06/11/2026
Can you believe it!! One month from today, KRD will celebrate its 100-year anniversary of the commencement of construction of the canal infrastructure.
HUGE THANK YOU to the Kittitas County Historical Museum for putting so much energy and effort into launching a new Museum exhibit exploring the history of irrigation in Kittitas County from its earliest days to the present, with a glimpse toward the future of water, conservation, agriculture, and community life.
SAVE THE DATE β JULY 11, 2026 for an opportunity to attend two fantastic presentations by historian Kelsey Doncaster to be held at the Kittitas County Historical Museum:
2 PM β Dynamite, Draglines, and the Unexplained Cracking of a Pressure Tunnel
This afternoon presentation will focus on one of the more dramatic chapters in the construction of the Kittitas Division, including the tools, labor, challenges, and mysteries behind the work.
6 PM β The Saga of the Kittitas Reclamation District: More Than a Century in the Making
This evening presentation will trace the larger story of KRD, from early efforts beginning in 1911 through the July 11, 1926 ceremony, construction and completion, operation, and the work continuing today.
Event attendees will also have a special opportunity to sign up in person for future behind-the-scenes tours with the Kittitas Reclamation District. These tours will take place at later dates, and sign-ups will only be available during the July 11 event at the Museum.
π§πΎ One hundred years ago, water changed what was possible in Kittitas County.
On July 11, 1926, hundreds gathered near Easton to celebrate the beginning of construction on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamationβs Kittitas Division β a project that would dramatically reshape farms, communities, industries, and daily life across the valley for generations to come.
Now, exactly a century later, the Kittitas County Historical Museum and the Kittitas Reclamation District invite the community to help commemorate that history during a special centennial event:
π A Century of Water: 100 Years of the Kittitas Division
π
Saturday, July 11
π Kittitas County Historical Museum
The event will mark the opening of a brand-new exhibit exploring irrigation in Kittitas County β from early efforts to bring water across the valley to the people, projects, communities, and landscapes shaped by it over the last century, while also looking toward the future of water and conservation.
The day will also feature special presentations by historian Kelsey Doncaster:
π 2 PM β π·π¦πππππ‘π, π·ππππππππ , πππ π‘βπ ππππ₯πππππππ πΆπππππππ ππ π ππππ π π’ππ ππ’ππππ
π 6 PM β πβπ ππππ ππ π‘βπ πΎππ‘π‘ππ‘ππ π
πππππππ‘πππ π·ππ π‘ππππ‘: ππππ πβππ π πΆπππ‘π’ππ¦ ππ π‘βπ ππππππ
Visitors will also have the opportunity to sign up in person for future behind-the-scenes tours with KRD, available exclusively during the July 11 event.
Whether your family farmed here, worked on irrigation projects, depended on the water that transformed the valley, or simply calls Kittitas County home, this story belongs to all of us β and continues shaping the community today.
πΈ Photo: Dedication ceremony commemorating the start of construction on the Kittitas High Line Canal near Easton, Washington, July 11, 1926. Photograph by A. A. Whitmore, taken looking west from the end of the bank. Yakima-1367. Watermarked for attribution.
