Mountain Home Irrigation District
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 43° 08.231 W 115° 39.804
11T E 608702 N 4776915
This E Clampus Vitus marker is located next to the Desert Mountain Visitor Center in Mountain Home.
Waymark Code: WMJN4G
Location: Idaho, United States
Date Posted: 12/07/2013
Views: 1
Mountain Home
Irrigation District
The Town site of Mountain Home was chosen by the Union Pacific Railroad as a stop because of a readily available supply of water. The railroad utilized steam operated pumps in trench wells to fill storage tanks with this water in order to supply the needs of their thirsty steam locomotives. Today only area residents enjoy this refreshing water.
Efforts by early residents to build canals from nearby Canyon Creek to irrigate area lands proved ineffective. To deal with the problem the Mountain Reservoir and Canal Co. was formed in 1888. In 1891 an earthen dam constructed on Rattlesnake Creek became their first storage facility and was aptly named the Mountain Home reservoir. As the need for more water grew, further expansion led to the construction of Long Tom Reservoir in 1906 and Little Camas Reservoir in 1908. Increases in the height of the reservoirs between 1902-1915 allow the District to currently supply 32,740 acre-feet of water to 4,400 acres of farmland around Mountain Home. In 1926 the company was renamed the Mountain Home Irrigation District.
This plaque was jointly dedicated on
September 24, 2005 by
The Pioneer Federal Credit Union
Mountain Home Historical Museum
The DIG-IT Committee and
The Lewis and Clark Outpost #1805
of Chief Truckee Chapter #3691 of E Clampus Vitus