Cuyamaca Water Company

The Cuyamaca Water Company (CWC) was a water company near San Diego, California that was in existence from 1910-1926. The company was run by part owner and manager Ed Fletcher, and was started when Fletcher and another investor bought the Cuyamaca Dam and the San Diego Flume for $125,000. Fletcher believed he could turn the business around and make it profitable, while at the same time he was using the CWC as a tool to increase the profits of his real estate business.

Early years

The CWC provided water to farming land stretching from the San Diego City Limits to the El Cajon valley. Fletcher realised the importance of water to farming, and used his real estate business to increase the profits of both companies by raising the cost of water in areas that he owned.

The CWC and the California Railway Commission had many disputes over the prices that the CWC wanted to charge their customers. When the company was bought all outstanding contracts went to the CWC, and the CWC had undertaken to uphold the prices that were in place. However by the time that sales were finalized the prices had dropped. An appeal was made to the Railway Commission to raise prices, but it was denied because the CWC was declared a public utility by the Railway Commission.

Expansion

The Railway Commission then wanted the San Diego Flume redone in concrete. Fletcher proposed that the flume be redone in a roofing material. The roofing material was approved and it cost $45,000. The material kept the flume running for another 20 years and the efficiency of the flume, helping to greatly increase profits from 1915 to 1923.

After the relining of the flume the CWC built two reservoirs near the downstream terminus of the flume. One was the Grossmont Reservoir which was built in 1913, and the other was the Murray Dam which replaced the La Mesa Dam.

In 1914 the CWC began to sell water to the city of San Diego. This led to the irrigators filing a complaint that they were getting poor water supply because the CWC was diverting water to the city. The CWC had a dual structure rate which determined how much the customers would pay by their land size. In 1917 the Railway Commission made the CWC disband the dual rate structure because of complaints by the customers and irrigators.

In 1920 in a case that was upheld by both the Railway Commission and the US Supreme Court prices were raised. Increased sales to the city interested the CWC because they purchased by the amount of water used and not by the land size.

1926 the company was sold to the San Diego irrigation district for $1.2 million.

References

• San Diego Journal of History by Theodore Strathman