San Diego County Water Authority Collection, 1909-2010

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Summary

Creators:
San Diego County Water Authority .
Abstract:
This collection contains administrative papers, reports, and other reference materials from the library and offices of the San Diego County Water Authority.
Extent:
49.5 Linear feet (69 boxes)
Language:
Preferred citation:

San Diego County Water Authority Collection, MS 302, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains administrative papers, reports, and other reference materials from the library and offices of the San Diego County Water Authority.

Administrative papers for the San Diego County Water Authority include annual reports from 1946-1998, strategic planning documents, public opinion surveys, workshop materials, brochures, and 26 scrapbooks dating from the 1930s. There are also several scrapbooks on specific topics in later series. Administrative papers for the Metropolitan Water District contain most issues of the Aqueduct News newsletter from 1934-1973 detailing progress with Colorado River water, as well as a scrapbook of clippings, mailers, pamphlets, and citizens’ committee material. Additionally there is some material from the City of San Diego, including the 1931 city charter, yearbooks from 1945-1947, and brochures about the city as a tourist destination.

The collection contains numerous reports, legislative documents, and other materials on water development projects involving San Diego, California, the Colorado River, and Mexico. Records on the San Diego Aqueduct include pre-planning recommendations, design and construction, the impact of World War II and controversial aid from the Navy, and later expansion projects. Records on San Diego water development include histories of water in the region, a sourcebook on applying preferential rights, water supplies and usage throughout the county, planning in urban areas, reclamation studies, quality control, and flood control. Additionally, there are several reports on individual water projects such as Lake Hodges, the Bonsall Reservoir, the San Luis Reservoir, and the Pamo Valley Reservoir, as well as assorted photographs of dam sites.

Records on California water development contain numerous state bulletins, reports, project updates, and other literature on the water conditions and supplies of the state, as well as the design and implementation of the State Water Plan and State Water Project, including specific aspects such as the Feather River Project. This series also includes region-specific water resource development plans for basin/drainage regions, the Central Valley, and the Southwest region. Additionally, there are reports on drought in the mid-1970s, water conservation, quality control, and projected future developments.

Records on the Colorado River include histories, reports and recommendations, government proceedings from various court cases, and information on the Boulder Canyon Project, water quality control, the Citizens’ Committee for Colorado River Water, and various pamphlets and brochures. Records on Mexico are primarily arguments for or against water treaties and how they affect supply between California and Mexico.

Finally, subject files contain books, reports, published government proceedings, and brochures on topics such as climate, economics, history, hydroelectric power, irrigation, soil preservation, water conservation, education, legal cases, volunteer water monitoring, sewage reclamation, and water rights conflicts.

Biographical / historical:

The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) was created June 9, 1944 by an act of the State Legislature. It was established as a public agency to administer the county’s Colorado River water rights. SDCWA officials work in Sacramento and Washington D.C. to monitor legislation with potential impact for the San Diego County region. The Water Authority promotes water conservation and reclamation programs, youth education, and other projects to improve the quality and reliability of local water supplies. By the early 2000s, the Water Authority included 24 member agencies around the county.

The history of water in San Diego is one of cyclical droughts and floods. The region has a 10-11 year flood cycle, but flood years are occasionally skipped, so immense amounts of water must be stored to last through dry periods. The water needs of the City of San Diego have often conflicted with the needs of local farmers and other city districts. In 1922, the Colorado River Compact was formed and included California as one of the seven states entitled to an allocation of the Colorado River. The Metropolitan Water District was formed in 1927 to develop the entitlement for cities throughout Southern California. Boulder Dam was completed in 1935 and the All-American Canal in 1940, but legal conflicts continued with Arizona over the size of the allocation.

World War II and the arrival of the military in San Diego nearly doubled the local population and led to threats of water shortages. The newly formed SDCWA worked with the Navy and the US Bureau of Reclamation to construct the San Jacinto-San Vicente Aqueduct, though later there would be conflict with the government over the appropriateness of Navy financing. Water from the Colorado River finally arrived in the San Vicente Reservoir in November 1947. A second pipeline was completed in 1952.

In 1959, SDCWA officials including Board Chairman, Fred A. Heilbron and General Counsel, William H. Jennings joined a statewide effort to pass the Burns-Porter Act. This act authorized the State Water Project, which stretches 700 miles from Lake Oroville to Lake Perris via Feather River, the Sacramento River, and several other byways before joining the Metropolitan Water District system. The SDCWA eventually added three more pipelines to draw water from the Colorado River and Northern California via the State Water Project.

Acquisition information:
Accession number: 2013.22.
Processing information:

Collection processed by Samantha Mills on September 9, 2014.

This collection was processed as part of a grant project supported by the San Diego County Water Authority with generous funding from the Hans and Margaret Doe Foundation.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into nine series.

Series I: San Diego County Water Authority

Series II: Metropolitan Water District

Series III: City of San Diego

Series IV: San Diego Aqueduct

Series V: San Diego Water Development

Series VI: California Water Development

Series VII: Colorado River

Series VIII: Water Treaties with Mexico

Series IX: Subject Files

Series I-VIII are arranged by subject. Series IX is arranged alphabetically.

Physical / technical requirements:

The majority of the collection is in good condition, except for the scrapbooks. The scrapbooks are at various stages of deterioration. They remain with their original covers, but many have deconstructed bindings (e.g. rope removed from stab bindings). All have been interleaved and oversize scrapbooks have been placed in individual boxes.

San Diego Aqueduct photograph scrapbook pages (boxes 13-14) are made of degrading paper. Photographs that have already come unglued have been placed in archival sleeves. Those remaining are fixed to the pages by a single spot of glue apiece. The remainder of the photographs could potentially become detached allowing them to be removed and sleeved without damaging the originals and with captions intact.

Three folded maps from a bulletin rating California soils (box 36 folder 8) may require future encapsulation.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

San Diego County Water Authority Collection, MS 302, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 232-6203
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