A Conversation With Sam Hull of Ahtanum Irrigation District Sam Hull of Atanum Irrigation District’s board of directors.
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htanum Irrigation District encompasses approximately 10,300 acres in the Ahtanum Valley of Washington State and has a history dating back to 1852. Sam Hull is a member of Ahtanum Irrigation District’s board of directors. In this conversation with Joshua Dill, the managing editor of Irrigation Leader, Mr. Hull discusses his district’s history and unique features and its ambitions to create a new reservoir and a pressurized delivery system.
Joshua Dill: How many acres does your district service?
Joshua Dill: Please tell our readers about your background and how you ended up working for Ahtanum Irrigation District.
Sam Hull: Our delivery system is creek channels and open, unlined canals or ditches. We have three creeks, two of which act as diversion canals during the irrigation season, along with five small ditches. All our diversions from the main stream of Ahtanum Creek have fish screens. Everybody pumps from the canals or creeks, and the majority of our people irrigate with hand lines or wheel lines.
Joshua Dill: Would you please tell our readers about Ahtanum Irrigation District and its history? Sam Hull: Ahtanum Irrigation District was formed in 1918. Before that, it was just private landowners who all had their own water rights. The earliest water right has a priority date of 1852. In 1918, those landowners got together and formed the district.
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Joshua Dill: What are the primary methods of irrigation in your district?
Joshua Dill: What other features does your district have? Sam Hull: The district owns quite a bit of land up in the Ahtanum watershed. There are not many districts that have their own little watershed. We manage the land for grazing and for snowpack retention. The watershed is timberland, and it is in the 5,000–7,000foot elevation range. That is some of the late snowpack. We have logged quite a bit of timber up in that area. Previously, we were on a sustainable harvest program with the timber, but now that the mills have left this area, it has become difficult for us to market it. IRRIGATION LEADER
PHOTO COURTESY OF AHTANUM IRRIGATION DISTRICT.
Sam Hull: In 1892, my great-grandfather moved into the Ahtanum Valley from Wisconsin. He was a teacher at the Woodcock Academy of Higher Education in Ahtanum, Washington. He also started a farm here. My family has continued to farm up to the present day. Water has always been important to us, and so when the opportunity to be on the board of directors at Ahtanum Irrigation District came up about 25 years ago, I volunteered to run for the position and have been on the board ever since.
Sam Hull: We deliver water to approximately 5,300 acres. Our only storage is snowpack. We are not a Reclamation district.
