who owns the water in big bear lake
Big Bear Lake In 1884 marshy, nearly flat Bear Valley was dammed with a single arch granite impoundment, which held back some 25,000 acre feet (31,000 dam3) of water for irrigation purposes in the Redlands area. Redlands citrus growers found that the 1884 dam produced insufficient water. The Bear Valley Mutual Water Company (successor to Bear Valley Irrigation Company) hired John S. Eastwood to design a new dam.[3] In 1912 a 72 ft (22 m) multiple arch dam was constructed about 300 ft (91 m) downstream of the old dam and increased the lake capacity to 73,000 acre feet (90,000 dam3). The original granite dam still remains, usually under about 20 feet of water. A highway bridge (SR 18) was built over the arches of the new dam in 1923. A new bypass bridge was built next to the old bridge in 2009, and the old bridge on top of the new dam was removed (12). Elevation at the surface is 6,750 ft (2,060 m), but this level fluctuates according to annual snowmelt and runoff. Big Bear Municipal Water District acquired the dam and other assets from the Mutual Water Company in 1977.[4]