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1956 Map of Moses Lake NW

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Moses Lake NW
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1993
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1993

About this map

Moses Lake dominates the central landscape of this 1956 field-checked survey, captured during a period of significant hydraulic engineering in central Washington. The northern reach of the lake is fed by Rocky Ford Creek, while the surrounding terrain is defined by the broad depressions of Hiawatha Valley and Mae Valley. A notable insight into the era's development is the presence of a canal under construction in the northwest, part of the Bureau of Reclamation's irrigation efforts to transform the arid shrub-steppe into productive farmland.

Infrastructure for the growing region is evidenced by the White Trail Road and a major pipeline traversing the valleys. Surveyors recorded precise benchmarks such as Green VABM 1278 and a specific lake height at Elevation 1046 May 1956, providing a high-fidelity data point for hydrologists and historians tracking the changing water levels of the Columbia Basin Project. Scattered wells across the flats indicate the early reliance on groundwater before the full integration of the canal system.