Records of the Cuyamaca Water Company, formerly the San Diego Flume Company, which
was owned and operated by Colonel Ed Fletcher and Montana businessman James A. Murray
from June 1, 1910, until its sale to the La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Spring Valley Irrigation
District on January 4, 1926. The Cuyamaca Water Company Records contain typescripts
of reports; water rights contracts transferred from the San Diego Flume Company; technical
drawings of flumes, siphons, pumping stations, concrete pipes, and forebays; and maps
of flume routes, dam locations, proposed dam locations, subdivisions, and the watershed
of the San Diego River. A substantial number of the reports relate to the El Capitan
Dam and Reservoir Project and the legal controversy surrounding that project. The
strength of this collection, however, lies in the maps and technical drawings series,
which cartographically documents the growth of the water company. The subdivision
maps evidence the growth of the eastern central portion of San Diego as it developed
from an agricultural province to a burgeoning residential area. This collection reflects
material that was primarily generated and employed by the managers and engineers in
the field, and is complemented by the material in the Fletcher Family Papers (MSS
81), which document the administration of the Cuyamaca Water Company.
On June 1, 1910, Colonel Ed Fletcher and Montana businessman James A. Murray purchased
the San Diego Flume Company for $150,000, renaming it the Cuyamaca Water Company.
The initial purchase transferred all water rights and properties owned and managed
by the San Diego Flume Company to the Cuyamaca Water Company, including the Cuyamaca
Reservoir and Dam, the Diverting Dam, Eucalyptus Reservoir, La Mesa Reservoir (later
renamed Murray Reservoir), and the thirty-six mile Cuyamaca flume line, which ran
parallel just east and south of the San Diego River from the Diverting Dam, located
on the San Diego River just below the junction of the Boulder Creek, to the Eucalyptus
Reservoir, located near present day La Mesa.
The Cuyamaca Water Company was one of several water companies servicing the greater
San Diego area at this time. At the time of purchase from the San Diego Flume Company,
the Cuyamaca Water Company was furnishing irrigation water to Ex-Mission Rancho, Rancho
El Cajon and domestic water to a portion of the City of San Diego. Fletcher and Murray
expanded the areas serviced by the Cuyamaca Water Company to include La Mesa, East
San Diego and El Cajon; by 1924 the Cuyamaca Water Company was furnishing between
65,000 and 70,000 people with water, both for irrigation and domestic purposes.
Fletcher and Murray owned and operated the Cuyamaca Water Company for 15 years, making
or planning several improvements to the existing system, including the construction
of the San Vicente Dam and Reservoir, the El Capitan Dam and Reservoir, the Mission
Gorge Dam and Reservoir (which was never realized) and the purchase of the El Monte
Pumping Station. The most ambitious and controversial of these projects was the El
Capitan Dam and Reservoir, which, from its conception, was met with resistence from
the City of San Diego. After the Cuyamaca Water Company secured the land intended
for the El Capitan Dam and Reservoir, the City of San Diego filed to condemn the Cuyamaca
Water Company in an effort to stifle any further development, usurp its water rights
and acquire the company at a nominal price. The City of San Diego appealled to the
Rail Road Commission to fix a valuation on the Cuyamaca Water Company, which was determined
to be $745,000. The City of San Diego, however, declined to exercise its right to
purchase the company and dropped the suit. Despite the efforts of Fletcher and Murray,
the El Capitan Dam and Reservoir project was not completed until 1935. Many of the
projects initiated by the Cuyamaca Water Company were not completed until after the
company was sold.
The initial financial arrangement between Murray and Fletcher saw Murray as the principal
financier of the Cuyamaca Water Company, owning 5/6 of the company, and Fletcher owning
the remaining 1/6 and managing the company. In 1915 William G. Henshaw, a San Diego
businessman instrumental in helping to build the Lake Hodges Dam with Fletcher, purchased
one half of Fletcher's 1/6 interest in the Cuyamaca Water Company. The three men attempted
to sell the Cuyamaca Water Company to the City of San Diego and the La Mesa, Lemon
Grove and Spring Valley Irrigation District on several occassions without success.
Eventually, Colonel Ed Fletcher sold the Cuyamaca Water Company to the La Mesa, Lemon
Grove and Spring Valley Irrigation District for $1,400,000 on January 4, 1926.
The records of the Cuyamaca Water Company include typescript reports, contracts,
water rights documents, technical drawings, and maps used for San Diego land and water
development from the late 1800s to the mid-1930s. The Cuyamaca Water Company Records
are arranged in three series: 1) REPORTS, STUDIES AND SUMMARIES; 2) WATER RIGHTS AND
CONTRACTS and 3) MAPS AND TECHINICAL DRAWINGS.
The strength of this collection is the MAPS AND TECHNICAL DRAWINGS series with over
three hundred twenty-five maps and technical drawings documenting the early development
of San Diego County water resources. Of particular interest is the material, both
maps and typescript reports, related to the condemnation suit brought against the
Cuyamaca Water Company by the City of San Diego.
This collection complements the BUSINESS RECORDS series of the FLETCHER FAMILY PAPERS
(MSS 81), which contain numerous folders relating to the Cuyamaca Water Company, such
as correspondence, reports, studies, and summaries. The inclusive dates of the Cuyamaca
Water Company Records are 1867-1938; however, the bulk of the material dates from
1910-1925.
SERIES 1: REPORTS, STUDIES AND SUMMARIES
This series contains typescript reports, arranged alphabetically, related to the
operation and development of the Cuyamaca Water Company that describe and detail the
structures and holdings of the Cuyamaca Water Company and efforts to expand and improve
the system. A significant number of reports are related to the City of San Diego's
attempt to have the Cuyamaca Water Company condemned, particularly the folders titled:
"Act of Congress Granting El Capitan Land to the City of San Diego," "Data on El Capitan"
and "El Capitan Dam Sites - Core Drill Records and Profiles," as well as the folders
relating to valuation, depreciation, rate hearings, and the Rail Road Commission.
Also of interest are the reports entitled "Original Cost of the Cuyamaca Water Company"
and both folders titled "Description of the Cuyamaca Water System - Harritt," which
relate the chronological history of the water system from 1886 to 1926 and the improvements
made to this point as well as expected expansion of the system. The original titles
of the reports were preserved whenever possible.
SERIES 2: WATER RIGHTS AND CONTRACTS
This series documents the extant riparian and water rights purchased by the San Diego
Flume Company and later transfered to the Cuyamaca Water Company. The folders titled
"Water Rights: Contracts and Deeds Book" document the water rights of the San Diego
Flume Company and the Cuyamaca Water Company with their customers. The contracts and
deeds are arranged in the original order they were filed with deed numbers often out
of numerical order. Also included is an index, arranged alphabetically, that lists
the name of the water rights owner and the page number location of the contract.
SERIES 3: MAPS AND TECHNICAL DRAWINGS
This series is comprised of seven subseries: A) General Systems; B) Subdivisions;
C) Dams and Reservoirs Built; D) Dams and Reservoirs, Not Built; E) Flume Routes,
Flumes, Siphons, and Tunnels; F) Technical Drawings; and, G) Pumps and Wells. The
MAPS AND TECHNICAL DRAWINGS series is the most extensive series of the collection,
and meticulously documents the watershed of the Cuyamaca Water Company and its improvements,
whether actualized or anticipated. The maps are arranged in alphabetical order within
subseries, and the map numbers, when provided, have been included. The map numbers
can be cross referenced with an index located in box numbers 83 and 84 of the Fletcher
Family Papers (MSS 81). The maps are generally blueprint, diazo photoprints, ink on
paper, or ink on linen.
A) The General Systems subseries contains maps that provide the broadest overview
of the Cuyamaca Water Company's watershed, including several maps that reveal the
entire watershed of the Cuyamaca Water Company.
B) The Subdivisions subseries contains the greatest number of maps in this series
and complements the General Systems maps offering detailed views of new residential
development within the watershed of the Cuyamaca Water Company.
C) The Dams and Reservoirs Built subseries contains maps of dams and reservoirs that
may or may not have been built during the tenure of the Cuyamaca Water Company, but
were developed during this period and eventually completed. Included in this subseries
are the following dams and reservoirs: El Capitan, Eucalyptus, Grossmont, La Mesa,
Old Mission, and San Vicente. The El Capitan and San Vicente Dams and Reservoirs are
the most notable projects that were developed but not completed until the company
was sold.
D) The Dams and Reservoirs, Not Built subseries contains maps from projects that
were being developed but never actualized. The most notable projects are the Boulder
Creek Dam and Conduit and the Mission Gorge Dam and Reservoir.
E) The Flume Routes, Flumes, Siphons, and Tunnels subseries contains maps detailing
the development, improvement and operation of the Cuyamaca Flume and its numerous
siphons, trestles and tunnels. There are several maps of the El Capitan Dam and Reservoir
site relating to the condemnation suit leveled against the Cuyamaca Water Company
by the City of San Diego.
F) The Technical Drawings subseries contains drawings of equipment and structures
developed and employed by the Cuyamaca Water Company. There are a number of drawings
pertaining to flume construction, development and improvement.
D) The Pumps and Wells subseries contains maps relating to the development and construction
of a number of pumps and wells within the Cuyamaca Water Company system.
