Bennington Lake and Mill Creek Development

Bennington Lake is part of a flood control project that uses this off-stream reservoir to store water from Mill Creek during a flash flood event. In the early 1900s, public concern over the frequent flooding of Walla Walla prompted Virgil B. Bennington, then president of the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce, to lobby the U.S. Congress for flood protection. Development of Mill Creek Dam system was authorized in the 1938 Flood Control Act. The improved Mill Creek channel and off-stream storage reservoir were completed in 1942. Fifty years later in 1992 the lake was named after Bennington.