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HomeMy WebLinkAboutContracts & Agreements_W-00tVATER AND IGATION INVOLVING MILL -CREEK AND THE-* M ILL CREEK z ANJA HORACE Po HINCKLEY. 1930 RIGHTS n FORM= In oompiling data on the. distribution of the gravity crater from streezm supplying the Obn Bernardino Valley for the Ban Bernardino Valley stater Conaary on District I have had000asion to inveutigLte the present diattri. bution of Mill Crook water apd: have found it quite m oomplioated syatem. The history and lawauits sadjudica tang theF der rights baove• bean quite Involved and this paper is merely a synopsis -of the principal f ootorm tle,.* have had a part in the sstablishdng sa settling the sights to the surface k C and subsurface waters; origintiag in MillCree �on. 11-18-1�39 �o �c WATER RIGHTS MW LITIGATION INVOLVING C� MILL CREME AND THE DILL CREEL ZANJA f Mill Creek, which flows into the Santa Ana River east of Redlands, has had a more varied and troubled history than any other stream in the San Bernardino valley. Twelve major lawsuits besides many injunctions and stipulations govern the use of its waters, the oldest water rights in San Bernardino County. In 1819 the fathers of Mission San Gabriel induced the Indians to dig a ditch or zan ja from a point two miles below the mouth of hull Creek Canyon to the region formerly called Old San Bernardino and now known as Bryn Mawr. This is a distance of twelve miles, and although the builders took advantage of all natural draws sad depressions, still it Was no small task to construct suoh a waterway using, legend says, shoulder blades of cattle for shovels and baskets for wheelbarrows. From 1820 to 1834, Mill Creek Rater was used to irrigate Mission grain fields in the vicinity of the San Bernardino Asistenoia and the area immediately west then known as Guachama Ranoheria. In 1634, unohristianized Indians attacked the so- called Mission Indians, and the property and fields ihioh had been irrigated by Mill Creek water were abandoned. wring the next few years it is probable that the zan ja Was not. kept in repair* In 1839 Jose Del Carmen Lugo entered the San Bernardino Valley with a permit to establish a colony. Because of Indian hostility the colony failed. In 1841 Jose Del Carmen Lugo, his two brothers Jose Maria and Vicente, and Diego Sepulveda applied to the Me2ioan government f or a grant of eleven square leagues of land. In their appl{ cation they described an area embrading the entire San Bernardino end Yucaipa Valleys. Starting at Slover 1"ountain near Colton, the boundary line ran northerly to the mouth of Devil Canyon; thence easterly along the base of the San Bernardino 1:ountains and southerly along the base of the hills east of Yucaipa; thence westerly along the San Timoteo hills back to Slover Mountain. This application whioh included over eighteen leagues was granted but for only eight square leagues to be selected from.the eighteen, together with an implied right to the water of the dill Creek' Zanja. This right was issued by the Mexioan government in June 1842 and the title was confirmed by the Unite& States land Commission for California in February 1853. Patent was issued in 1865. The next development in the use of Mill Creek water followed the arrival of the Mormons in June 1851. Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, o olony leader+ppointecl by the Mormon ahuroh, purchased this land grant from the three Lugo brothers and Sepulveda for 077,000. They thought they were buying all of the land described in the application for the grant, approximately 819000 acres, and Were bitterly disa?ointed when they found that they Were entitled to only eight leagues j or about 35,500 acres. Although they oould choose 1he land they wanted it had to be oonneoted or all In one unit. After several years they seleoted lands riparian to Twin Creek, Warm Creek, the Dill Creek Zan ja in the San Bernardino Valley and a tract including the moist lands of Yucaipa Valley. Several families of the Mormons settled in the Bryn Mawr area and they f ouad the can ja largely filled with brash and debris through disuse. Through 1652 they used Water directly out of San Tiiaoteo Creek but in the suoceeding year they repaired the Zanja an& began using Mill Creak water. In October 1851 the mother ohurah recalled the oolony to Utah but some of the families preferred to stay as they.had built permanent homes along the lower and of the zanja. 41 In the early stages of settlement land was available at small cost and with the expansion of farms it was inevitable that disputes should arise as to the amount of water to which each man was entitled. The year 1856 was evidently a relatively dry year for water disputes caused so much friction that the matter was referred to the Mormon Elderst Massaro Lyman and Rich. Tradition has it that they allotted the time in the Mill Creek zanja in accordance to the number of children in each family. They first adopted an eight day schedule then later changed to a ten day period. The first record of ownership is lister in an exhibit in Distriot Court vase .059 and is given as fbilows: The ownership after they had changed to a ten day schedule is given in the Water Commissioners minutes fcw Peb. 2nd 1867 and is listed below. 1859 Owner Carpenter Ranch Ben Barton Oliver Childers James Rite Alfred Bybee Joseph Wilson' Bushrod Wilson John van $euven Louise Van Leuven B: Van Leuven Anson Van Leuven Bnasaigned Oi`IMSEIP OP ZANJA Hours 34.33 30.22 13.12 16.47 31085 8.24 2.75 8023 8023 16.47 21.95 ....'* 14 1 ours - 8 days 1867 Owner Carpenter Ranch Ben Barton 'i. Curtis Tuttle & Pishon Prink Joseph Wilson B. W. Wilson St. Clair J. Cole Z. Van Leuven B. Van Leuven A. Van Leuven Hours f 60 36 17 17 18 13 12 , 5 13 13 18 18 90`hours - - 10 days Amongst the early settlers in Bryn 21awr was the Cram family. Mr, John Cram besides using some water for irrigation had a water wheel powered by a drop, in the zanja just west of the Asistencia; he j connoted this hater wheel to a lathe for building furniture. Cram realizing that possibly more fertile soil lay near the foothills asked and was allowed to take his water right f • in the zanja with him to a point near what is now known as Grafton. Cram had evidently moved there believing he was settling on government land for when the Mormons included this area within the boundaries of the Rancho San Bernardino he sold his water right and homesteaded In Last Highlands. This ohange seemingly trivial at the time pro- bably led to more litigation and trouble than any other single act in the history of hill Creek water for it divided the water betweea the upper or Crafton settlement and the lower or Bryn Mawr users. In March 1858 Wr. Z. F. Carpenter purchased from the owners of the San Bernardino Rancho a 320 acre tract bordering the zanja lust east of what is now Wabash Avenue anti from Cram the right to the use of zanja water. Carpenter immediately planted a vineyard and grain crops and in the fall of 1860 an agreement was made between him alone and the lower users giving his ranch exclusive rights to the water from three o * clock until nine o'clock in the afternoon - of saoh.day, it having been asoertained by practice that the effect of closing off the flow above was not felt until six hours later at the lower end - o f the zanja. By this arrangement the people in Bryn Mawr or Old San Bernardino as it Was often called, were only deprived of water at - night when they did not especially care for it. Nine months after Carpenter purchased his ranch George Crafts acting as agent for his brother Myron H. Crafts purchased the land adjacent on the east. Mr. Crafts was especially enterpris- ing in planting various kinds of crops and fruit trees trying to find out what crops were best suited for the climate. During these years in th.e early Gas there was suffioient water for all and Crafts . simply took what he needed alth oagh he later claimed that he fell heir to the rights of a squatter by the name of Wilson vLo had settled previously on his property and had been using zanja water. About a year after Carpenter settled on his ranch H. 23. Vliili'E . 4- moved to the property adjoining on the weste i"illis claimed a riparian right to the zanja waters but tempered his use to the hours of three to nine and then only used water which Carpenter allowed to go by. Willis also used the waste water from the Carpenter ranche AS was inevitable these upper. users, in increasing their lands under cultivation had been taking more water so in 1864 the lower users appealed to the district court (case .059 Barton at al ve. Crafts and Willis) demanding that no water be diverted except by the Carpenter ranch. The upper users as defendants claimed that the zanja was a natural flowing stream on vAiioh they had riparian rights and that they having used the water for more than five yeare and worked in maintaining the diversion works at the intake were entitled to continue using it* The defense also claimed that the lower users had expanded the acreage under irrigation. - by nearly one third and consequently that was 1hy they were short of water. This case was tried in part on the bc-nks of the zanja, the most vital point at issue was whether the zanja cord& be considered a natural stream below the obviously constructed works at its intake and henoe be sxb jeot to riparian rights. The court ruled that the zanja was an artificial waterway and not smb jeot for riparian use. It also sustained the agreement made in 1860 that no water could be diverted for irrigation 'by the upper users except between the hours of 3 to 9 P.M. (3 to 8 P. X* for the year 1864). This case settled for a time the differences between the upper and loner users but did not settle the apportionment between the individual owner$. Of passing interest is the fact that in 1862, Anson Van Leuven, lining at the end of the zanja had the California legislature pass a statue known looally as "Van Leuve2le Duck Law" which required upper users along an irrigation ditch to allow enough water to pass their place to supply stock and domestic - t --_ 00 --- '" - - - - -- - • - - . .0 w i • - Pursuant - t o an act passed by the legislature in 1854 a board of rater commissioners was appointed in San Bernardino County. This body of three men had jurisdiction in assigning the water of the various gravity streams to their respective owners and were charged with seeing that rightful division according to owner- ship was carried out. Although functioning this board kept no minutes of their meetings until 1864. To minimize expense the zam j a owners allowed each man to divert the zanja in his turn and no regular water master was employed. The next dispute to be taken to court involved only the upper users. Crafts filed in 1869 a suit against 0 ISCCoy (District Court .97) then owner of the Carpenter ranch, in an attempt to settle just how much of the 13 to 9 o'clock right belonged to him and how much to X000y. They had each been _doing about an equal share in the work of maintaining the zanja headworks after storm damage and some years had shared the time on more cr less a 50 - 50 basis. The court ruled that Crafts had acquired an adverse right due to continued usage and was entitled to 3/8ths of the water from 3 to 9 o'clock and MoCoy 5/8ths. The Willis ranch had been more or less abandoned and was given only the waste water frcm the Carpenter p rater ranch. In the f of lowing year tic C oy end others had to resort to the court (Distrie t Court 411.1.17) to force .Crafts to complywith the e Judgement of the- proceeding year, Crafts did not construct a satisfactory division box to taXe *his 3/8ths of the flog and let the rest .go by. The court altered its former decision so as to allow Crafts to have the entire flog of the zanja during the Period r P f om 3 to 9 P. 11* for two days out Of every week and the Carpenter ranch owners have the remaining five days. The next dispute concerning Mill Creek water was Di strict t Court case J230 when Ira leffingwelle Successor to the H. M# "Tillis • property west of the Carpenter ranch sued all users above him .. Crafts and owners of the Carpenter ranch - maintaining that under the decree of case .057 he was entitled to all water in the 3 to 9 o' clock -right except for the two days of each week apportioned to Crafts. Witnesses testified that the Willis place had been virtually abandoned for over five years and any right which that property may have had, had lapsed and the court ruled that such were the facts and actually the only right appurtenant to the Willis property . _- was the waste water from the Carpenter ranch. The next record of trouble along the $an ja is in 1876 when both upper mad lower users on the zan ja appeared in court to get an Injunction against it. H. Crafts (District Court #.323 Cave at al vs. Crafts) acausing Crafts of diverting water at times that he had no right to do so. Crafts only excuse was that some water had been diverted by irresponsible employees. However it was proved that Crafts was using more water than he was entitled to and the court fined him as o ord ingly. Likewise in the suc o e e d- Ing year action was again brought against Crafts (-District Court Q .557) to make hits follow the previous oaairt decisions. ' The next litigation involved only the upper users. UP Byrne successor to the Willis ranch just west of the Carpenter place, sued the then owners -of the Carpenter ranch (Superior Court #638, Byrne his. Crafts at We In August 1874, the Carpenter ran& was owned by the five owners of the Southern Pacific Railroad ( Stanford, Crooker, Huntington, Hopkins and Colton) , J. P. Cave and `d. Craig. However in 1876, C. R. Paine bought Craig's portion and sometime prior to 18879 Me H. Crafts bought the Southern Pacific share. The case started in 1883 when Byrne complained that Whereas his ranch was entitled to the waste water of the Carpenter ranch and said waste should amount to one third of the total diverted by the Carpenter ranch but in recent years the oczaers had been irrigating new lands not in the original 320 sores of the Carpenter ranch and consequently Byrne was not receiving his fill quota of waste water. The case was appealed to the State Supremea court and in March 1890 the court ruled that all the zanja flow between 3 end 9 o'clock on five days of each week over and above 600 miner's Inches - that being the amount deuced necessary to irrigate the Carpenter ranch - belonged to Byrne. In the meantime Byrne had purchased four hours of zanja water from lower users and the Carpenter ranch people were restrained from interfering with the diversion and delivery of this water in ditohes crossing their property to the Byrne ranch. In 1883, to further develop lends in the Ssn Bernardino Valley, the Bear Valley Land and Water Company was formed. The promoters of this company thought that by impounding the waters of Bear Creek in the Bear Valley reservoir enough water would be avail- able to supply not only the needs of the Redlands Highland area but also the Uoreno Valley. One of the proposed features of the Bear Valley project was a highline to divert the Santa Aria River water at a point about two miles above the mouth of Santa ,Ana Canyon then by a ' series of open flumes sad tunnels carry this water over to and across Mill Creek about one quarter of a mile below the zanja intake. From there by pipeline the water oorssed the lower end of the Yucaipa valley and thence to the projected town of gllessandro in Moreno Valley. This later unit from M33. Creek to Moreno Valley' was oohstruoted first and the Bear Valley people made a deal whereby they could divert water from the zanja . at their JJJJVYJJ highline crossing then pay it back at the Redlands canal crossing near the present Craft on school. This was taking water out of the zanja at elevation 2250 anA paying it back at Afier two years elevation 1600. AThe lower zanja users, upon the advice of their attorneys, protested this exohange of water. Consequently the Bear Valley Irrigation Company successor to the Bear Valley Land and Water Company was forced in 1692 to construct the. remaining portion of their AW#1W1J9Vj# highline canal between Mill Creek and the Santa Ana River. This eight mile link, now known as the Gre enspot or Bear Valley highline was across. very rugged terrain necessitating several long tunnels and inverted siphons. It cost nearly one quarter of a million dollars and put the Bear Valley Irrigation Company in serious financial difficulties. The company went into bankruptcy in 1895 and no water was run through the stretch between Santa Ana River and Fill Creek after April 1899. The line Was later put in service by the Crafton Heights Pipeline Co. sad. the Bear Valley rutual rater Company in 1910, To definitely prevent the Bear Palley Land and water Company or the Bear Valley Irrigation Company from interfering vi th Cw diverting zsnja Mill Creek water the lower use rs A May 1893 filed a complaint Protesting any exchange of Waters (Supe ri ar Court §4938) . The c as e never came to trial as evidently tree Bear Valley people realized they had no rights to effect an exchange of water except with the consent of all parties o onoe rned. The structures built on the zanja at the Highline ana Redlands canal orosaing to effect this exchange are 6ti11 in existence. After -the receiver had taken over the op a rat ion of the Bear Vall 1y system the Moreno int ere st s had to rent water on usually an annual basis from zanja owners, Luring the dry years from 1896 to 1904 several of the lower users put down wells and pumped water for their own use while 'they sold their zanja water to 11oreno or Crafton users. . In 1882 Crafts and others inoorporated the Crafton Land sand plater company vhioh was followed in 1886 by the organization of the present Grafton 'later Company. Owners of zanja water in` the upper settlement transfered their rights in the zanja flow to the Crafton Water Company at the rate of one hour of zanja flow every ten days for seventeen shares of Crafton Trater Company stock. The company enlarged the small reservoir built by Crafts to 68 acre feet capacity (if spillway is closed it gill hold 105 acre feet). 1t its formation the Crafton Water Compsaty ovned 14.3% of the total zanja flow, they now own 53.2f together with 140288 shares of Bear Valley Mutual Water CompanyStockate- pa�ia� <<�u`���� of . 8,1/ cd in 1174.. Cr;flbo owns 'V2AeY- In June 1899 the owners of the zanja both in the upper` 'NIft 14 PH and lower settlement sued the people. in Mill Creek canyon vuh o were 5*=R5' using water out of Mill Creek (Superior Court J7680, Barton Land & Water Co. at al vs. G. V4 Tyler at al). The plaintiff& (zanja Owners) claimed that since 1853 theyhad used the flow of Mill Creek to the extent of 3,000 miners inches at all times, sad that such priority of possession gave them rights over any diversions by settlers in Mill Creek canyon. 'This case was largely fought by the Southern Pacific Railroad, as they, being owners of each alternate section of land in the L-rill Creek watershed, were vitally concerned as to the ownership of the water. In June 1902 the o oo rt ruled that the zanja jj owners had established a right to 2 500 miners inches of the flow of Mill Creek long prior to the land grant made in 1871. to die Southern Paoifie Company, ffid as axoh the riparian owners along Mill Creek had no right to interfere or diminish the flow as long as 1here was less than 2, 500 miners inches at the zanja intake. 1 similiar action ( Cave at al vs. Tyler) filed In 1894 and decided by the aomrt is 1902, stopped the owners of the land at 'ohs site of the presaLt Dolly varden Trout Farm on Mountain Home Creak from diverting more than two inches of Water from Snow Creek ...10_ oienega or Mountain Home Creak to be used on the property. The owners previous to 1902 ( Skinner then later Late Harvey), had been using up to 15 inches to irrigate apple trees anti other crops and the court held that any diminution of the flow under 2,500 miners.. inches at the sanja intake inflioted an injury on the zanja owners. Concurrently with this cage action was broight in July 1899 by the zanja owners against Mrs. L. Chamberlain (Spperi or Court Y7705 ). Chamberlain was euooessor in interest to a ITr. Reed Who first settled on a 60 sore tract about one quarter of a mile below the zanja intake;, In. 1871.. The zanja owners in oonsideration of Reed's looking after the zanja intake allowed him to use some Water but in 1874 protested violently when he enlarged his fields and diverted more water from the zauja than what he needed for his domestic use. bars. Chamber- lain claimed that Reed first used five inches then in 1875 used thirty inches and as suoaessor in interest she was entitled to - thirty inches ¢ of water from . the zanja flow. The oourt rmled in August 1900, that the zanja owners were owners of 3,000 inches of ]dill Creek water end that bars. Chamberlain nor any of her predecessors in interest had any right to the use of ?dill Creek water. The next quarrel affecting mill Creek water occurred between the Grafton Water Company and the lower users. During the extremely dry years of 1898 and 1899 the surface flow of Mill Creek at the zanja intake dropped below 200 miners inches. This Seri oa sly so hampered the Grafton people JJ they approached the lower users with the proposition of developing the subsurface flow of =11 Creek abore the mouth of the canyon. The lower owners did not feel that they oomld put more than $5,000 into XX such development word:. The Crafton people realized that based on ownership their share would only be 03, 000 anct the total 08,000 would not be enou;h to defray the cost of the proposed development. . Consequently the Crafton : ater Company on their own initiative put down a shaft in Lill Creek canyon about 1, 000 feet above its Xjj debouchure onto the debris cone. This well although 133 feet deep pumped only 50 inches ant was never used ' except during 1899. Before the completion of this well the. Craft on Water Company started another shaft about three miles farther up the canyon at the junction of Uountain. Home and Bill Creek near what is now Igo" s corner. They dug a shaft 90 feet deep then branched into two drifts one to the north 600 feet and the other to 'die south 65 feet. They pumped 140 inches fran this dell. The Redlands Light and Power Company furnished electric p6wer' for pumping gratis as the water from this shaft Was disobarged into their canal and through s2 and 41 generating plants. On the advice of their engineer's Massaro Boggs and Tinkle, the Crafton Water Company constructed flumes -to convey the surface water from a point 1200 feat above each well. to below the well. By bypassing the surface flow in this ma=er they hoped that their pumping would not affect the water - in the creek. In 1906 suit was brought by the lower ,an ja owners (Barton land and "dater Company at al v8. Crafton Water Company), to stop the pumping of the wells in the canyon on the gro mnd that it decreased the surface flog of mill Creek. Considerable field work was done by both parties to ascertain Y&a.t effect this pumping had on the stream flow Rnd a good deal of testimony was Riven by the head engineers ( irA.$k for the lower zan ja owners, Finkle for the Craft on dater Compa v) , on the hvdrol.ogv of X .11 Creek CA.nyon. It was the decision of the o air t 3n )march 1907, that the surface and subsurface waters of Mill, Greek were ome sad the same, that the zmbt e=anean waters were not separated by any impenetrable strata; - -12- and inasmuch as the subsurface waters were a part and parcel of the waters of M111 Creek they belonged to the zanja os+ners and the Crafton stater Company had no right to develop them for their exclusive use. This decision stopped all development work in Will Creek until 1927 when the zanja' owners through an organization known as the Mill Creek Owners installed a pump on the old well by Igoe and then proceeded to drill another well about two miles farther up Mill Creek Canyon. Toe expense of this organization has been borne by all the zan ja owners, there being only 20 minu'tes out of the total 240 hours that has not joined in the cost of inoreas- ing the water sapply, g third well was put d cmin in 1929 approx. imately one mile above the mouth of Dill Creek Canyon. This well was equipped with a submersible motorpump and was completely buried in the March 1938 flood. These welts have been pumped every year since 1927 with the exception of 1938 when there was sufficient gravity water to maintain normal delivery. During g the past twelve'., years the Mill Creek Owners, have purchased several large tracts of land in Mill Creek Canyon and spaat over $400000 in pipelines and development work. Another oase involving Mill Creek water was decided in 1903 and grew out of the fact that in 1892 an agreement was signed between the sanja owners and the Redlands Electric Light and Power Company allowing the latter to construct a pipeline and use the waters of Mill Creek for the generation of electric power. The power company proceeded to build a plant and lay 79250 feet of pipe with 2,000 miners inches oapaoity. Their intake being at the mouth of the oanyon and the plant .about one quarter of a mile above the sanja intake. This prevented a large decrease in the stream flow due to seepage and evaporation lose sad was olearly to the advan- tags of the zanja owners. Previously in 1885 the zanja owners had started the oonstruction of a rubble lined ditoh to oonvey the summer flow from the mouth of the canyon to the intake, but a • storm destroyed a large part of the ditoh and water was anly oarried in it 'a part of the sumruer of 1886. •A seotion of this old ditch is- atilt intaot below the Edison powerhouse at the mouth of the oaayon. The Menton Irrigation Company organized in 1687 Was the owner of a tunnel end a system of auto and ditohes together with two springs about 0, 39800 feet below the zanja intake from whiah they tapped the underground water in the ]dill Creek ohaxmel. The tunnel had been started in 1885 end by 1896 had been extended a distance of 1,300 feet from 'its mouth. Before 1893 its flow varied from 30 to 125 inches, but in 1899 ' sad- 1900 the Montane Irrigation Company drilled a well about 1,000 feet south of the tunnel • aad when it Was pumped there was no water at all in the tunnel. The Montane Irrigation Company sued the Redlands Eleotrio Light and. Power Company and the zanja ovn era ( Sup eci or Court #7884) olaiming that by o onfining the Mill Creek water to an Impervious pipeline they prevented the saturation of the soil and 'consequent replenish - meat of the underground water* The oourt held that inasmuch as the zanja owners right to 2,500 miners inobse antedated by many years the tunnel Bid. Works of the Mentone Irrigation Company and inasmuch ae the power o ampanay as a riparian proprietor was only exeroising its right of taking the Mill Creek water from the stream and then returning the same water again undiminished in quantity or ow,t quality, The lower underground water developers had no redress. This case allowed the power interests to prooeed in the further development of eleotrio power on Mill Creek. Ploat #2 -.taking the water out of Mill Creek at its junotian with Mountain Rome stream and running the water through turbines at a power house As, soon as this was finished another oanal and penstock was build Ift diverting the Mill Creek Rater Not below Forest Home. The generators for #3 unit are in the same building as #2 unit at the mouth of the oanyon. Simultaneously with this development of the Redlands Light sad Power Company later the Southern -California Edison Company Mr. Baldwin of Claremont filed on the power rights to Mill Creek ab oire Forest Home. In 1915 Mr. Van Zandt made a survey and plaza for the diversion of High Creek, Vivian and Falls Creek, In 1920 the Southern] Sierras Power Company now the Nevada California Eleotrio Corporation beoame interested in the pro jeot. They seoured State aad Federal Power Commission permits to prooeed with the + development and started work on a hydroeleotrio generating plant at Forest Home. This plant wauld operate under 2,063 feet of head and seoure ester from the abov-e mentioned tributaries of Mill Creek. After Intermittent work and extension of development time the prro jeot was definitely abandoned in 1931 due to the low Cost of generating power by other means and Improved transmission i teoh. nique made it more soonomioal to aeoure BoQlder Dam power rather than oontinue with this pro jeot. By 190T the rights to Mill Creek water were fairly well. ' established and tie owners were oantent to let things remain in status quo. It was evident to all that ms enormous loss took plaoe because of the 3.2 miles of open unlined ditch between Crafton and the lower users. As one oeaaer put it there was always plenty of money to fight lawsuits but none to improve the ester supply. Improved pumping machinery made it more •oonomioal for many of the lower users to secure their water from wells and sell their Eiill Creak water to parties In the Crafton area. In 1925 ten hours ' of The sanja flow were purohased by the Moreno interests. These hours were exchanged for Craft on Water Company stock so that in 1R_ sotual operation Moreno reoeives Bear VaXley water due the Crafton w Water Company on their stook ownership in the Bear Valley Mutual Water Company. In 1929 the Santa Ana River Development Company, an Orange County organization, filed suit end a stipulation was entered into governing the amount of dill Creek arc other water from the San Bernardino Valley which can be exported to Moreno. This stipulation limits the quantity to 2,131 sore feet per annum. The City of Redlands in the spring of 1926 voted a $5250000 bond issue to buy rights to hill Creek water. They approaohed the owners of Mill Creek water ,f/f/ below Redlands with two alternatives. One known as option B was to sell their water for $p5, 000 an hour (1/240th of the perpetual flow of the zanja) then the City would guarantee to supply them with pumped water at cost and whenever the remaining users were not taking the fOl 210500 inches then they could have Mill Creek water at ten oents per day inch* The area on which this water can be used was outlined end roughly inoluded all the area east of Mountain View Avenue between Colton and Barton Avenues up to California Street then the area between Citrus Ave. and Barton Ave. to Tennessee Ste than a small irregular blook ad jaoent to the zanja up to Texas St. This 6ption only applied to property viL thin this speoified distrio t ama also the owner or his .. assigns must have had rights to zanja water. Up to 1937 the City furnished water to any property within this epeoifiedd, distrio t at the same oost but this has now been changed so some are paying the 50o per day inch irrigation rate for oit y water while others under the B oontraots pay about 30 cents. The other alternative known as option A was simply a o-ontraot that the olty would perpetually deliver water to zanja owners but would allow the o i ty to abandon the open di toh and use pipelines. Although none of the zanja owners Signed this option A the City prooe eded to replace the zanja with a pipeline and to date no dispute has been raised beoause of this sot. Purchase of the major portion of the lower sanja rights and abandonment of the open di toh involved --the City in a o onfliot with several of ti►e upper users. With the oonstruotion of the Grafton Water Company reservoir in 1886 the largest portion of the water belonging to the upper users was diverted into the reservoir at a point approximately one mile below the sanja intake. However nc. Paine as the owner of the old Carpenter ranch and Col. Pieroe as owner of the Crafts home phaos oontinued to pperate their diversion gates on the dot of 3 o' olook thus appropriating a1.1 the water in the sanja between the Grafton reservoir headgate and their diversion gates a distanoe of more than a mile. Through the years this praotioe had never been protested hens they had gains& a right to this water. ' also on the old Crafts plaoe a knothole iu the diversion gate had • been allowed to divert water as long as there was water in the $anja• A oitisens oommittee o wposed of Thomas Sanborn, George Humphrey and H. H• Garetin were appointed to compromise these rights. . They evaluated 1h a Paine right as equal to about 20 minutes of water each day or in the ten day period three an& one half hours of sanja flow. He was paid aoo ordingly for the water ($b, 000 per h our) . To Col. Pieroe th ey allotted 300 day inohe s . of water eaoh month to be used exolusively on the 17.9 sores ad jaoent to the diversion. Prior to 1h a purohase of Mill Creek water the City of Redleads had beoome interested in Mill Creek as a souroe of water supply. Up to 1921 the only works on the Mill Creek Debris Cone below the sanja intake were the above mentioned Menton Irrigation Company tunnel and two ad jaoent wells one on the north, the other south of the tunnel and, also two wo ll a co nnoo te& to a short tunnel -17- •.i at the site of what was called Ge roan Springs about 2, 000 feet northeast of Rooky Comfort. These lower wells together with several hundred acres of lend had belonged to the Menton Lend and Citrus Company but had passed into the hands of the mortgagor, the Great Republic Life Insurance Company. In 1921 Mr. George Humphrey promoted a plan to -further develop the underground waters on the Mill Creek debris oone. He secured an option on approximately 1100 acres of land and had the ooar t adjudicate the amount of water the owners in the existent works were entitled to. The oourt stipulated that the Menton Irrigation Company and others who had bought into these works were entitled to a total of 121 miners inches perpetual flow. The East Lugonia Mutual water Company was then incorporated and they boaght a 3/4 interest in the 19100 acres, the City of Redlands buying the other 1/4 interest in the property. 7he old tunnel was re o onstruo tee sad extended and two wells drilled near its head* water from the tunnel and these two wells was conveyed by a steel pressure pipe to a series of three other wells spaced about one mile apart down the Mill Creek debris oone. It was first planned to operate the pumps in these t1ree lower wells, by water wheels bat other than in extremely wet years there was not ouffioient water to supply the 121 inohe s prior right and run the turbines too so they were replaced by electric motors. Through experience the company found that there water supply in the summer months depended primarily on the amount of water vuSich o ould be spread azxl stored in the debris come during the winter. In the dry years of 19300 934 and j 136 very little water was available for spreading and oonsequently • the mirmer flow from the tunnel was not even sufficient to supply the 121 inches of prior right. Besides this some 20 other wells were drilled by owners on proper ty adjacent -18- to that of the East Lugoni a Mutual Water Company and these all drew on the Same underground water basin. These two factors, dry Years in vi ioh they had to maintain a prior right delivery and the pumping by adjacent wells forced this campany into bankrupoy and to date no settlement has been worked out. At the present time ownership of the Will Creek san j a is as follows: 0MTERSH IP OF ZANJA 1939 Craft Omer on ester Company Hours 127 * 50 127 31 ham' � City of Redlands 92*65 9z 39 J. i<. Cole estate 405 .30 G. We Curtis 490 � H. Porch 200 2 Be J, Co J. Curtis estate Curtis 290 _ 2*0 R J. E. Davis Estate 1.0 H. We' Cole 1.0 L. C. 0. S• Yount Ylitohell 100 44 S. G. Batchelor 105 r 3 0 • A • Young . 07 F Its. Perry Jones * 2b .17 ls, !D hours i , i ITM NOT INCWDEU 1H ICH IT MIGHT BE WISH TO SAY SCURTHING ABOUT FALIUVAIZ MUIIJAL SERVICE CMZPANY and other users up in the mountdiaa PRES8�i3T OPERATION OF Z&NJA WATER Method of renting old toen uater to Moreno and Menton uevse (Pinoh deal) or renting scene In Bryn Maur in acupetion with the City (Porch deal) OLD ROBERTO' TUNML AND PRFSERX RENTING AND DI"AWION OF ZANJA ABOVE ITS INTAE$ BY THE BAST jaMa ORANGE CO• F D= AND DROUGHTS ON CIMEK Mx inum end at___.l um !lows of orsoY• BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MATERIAL W&TER SPRp.A13 = AD TO nM= SUIT. ITS xo=zmwu ao(yu im Jo Ri*aos Yrxn XMM oz Sara lima on f)Rrmng asa • axeozoo .Mlvza vrKn 1 lb ry lAF^ Ab •• �. i� Ste- —iii v � +..•». lop • �* ram. �.. r ••` ,. '� _ ,.. 1� . ,`,.,. • 1 � s• r. ! zfiNlWOQ Ma'007 6261 mmoaoo mmia vroz ' V r I� CA � y � ��� ter. ���.• ,•"- !� ,_ ''- fi• �`�• ' �``'.r.• � / Fv— �', •.. • V .- _/r��+ - . _ Ate^ ` . � f fo.