Prior to the construction of the ill-fated Calispell Diversion Canal, local farmers tried to alleviate the problem of flooding in the Calispell Valley by establishing a diking and drainage ditch system. The valley, however, continued to flood despite these efforts.

In 1933, construction began on the diversion canal. Initially, the Civil Works Administration, one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, managed the project. In later years, the project came under the auspices of the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration, and in the process provided employment opportunities during the Depression. Valley residents hoped the canal would not only solve the flooding problem but also irrigate dry lands during the summer months. A diversion dam, a seven-mile-long canal, and flumes were all built as part of the project that would divert water into Davis Creek, just south of Usk, near its confluence with the Pend Oreille River.

After three years of delays, the canal was prematurely tested. The water rushed down the canal for about a mile, where it “burst through the unsealed dirt embankment,” flooding the surrounding lands. The canal never operated again. A local author remarked, “Much of the canal remains intact today and is a familiar landmark. Calispell Creek continues to flow through its original channel, but in recent years, an efficient pumping plant was installed, regulating the flow and preventing massive flooding.”

Credits and Sources:

Bamonte, Tony, and Susan Schaeffer Bamonte. History of Pend Oreille County. Spokane:

Tornado Publications, 1996.

Lindeman, Glen. “Calispel Diversion Canal.” Big Smoke, 1986.

Photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress and the Pend Oreille County Historical Society.