This is the story of how early Santa Barbara’s moneyed ranchers forced their will upon the more rural ranchers and farmers who lived and ranched in the Santa Ynez River watershed. It has long been acknowledged that politics and political advantage can be used to accommodate the powerful near the seat of government; the trend continues today.
In the early 1900s, the leaders of Santa Barbara were faced with a problem that still exists today—how to get enough water to allow the community to grow and prosper.
As early as 1903 the Santa Ynez River watershed was recognized as a source of a dependable water supply for the increasing population of the South Coast area, so the political leaders needed to figure out how to transport water southward.
In April 1904, the city of Santa Barbara acquired what is known as the Gibraltar Dam site and the right of way for Mission Tunnel, which would be used to connect the reservoir with the water distribution system of the city.
In October 1904, the city posted a notice on the banks of the Santa Ynez River, whereby it claimed the right to appropriate, divert, and take the waters of the Santa Ynez for use in the city to the south. You can envision a lonely man on horseback tacking signs to trees and fence posts near the riverbank to lay claim to the region’s water.
Gibraltar Reservoir was finally constructed between 1913 and 1922, and the first diversion of water took place in 1920 with the completion of the Gibraltar Dam and Reservoir and Mission Tunnel. In 1930, Montecito County Water District, to the east of Santa Barbara, completed construction of Juncal Dam upstream from Gibraltar Dam and appropriated the headwater of the Santa Ynez River.
Thus began the “theft” of the Santa Ynez River from the hardworking people in the northern portion of the county by the political power structure in the south.
People finally realized what was happening and began to complain about it to county supervisors. Finally, after many months of haggling, a local farmer decided to challenge this apparent theft in the court system.
Gin Chow was originally a Chinese dishwasher who eventually migrated into Santa Barbara County. Mr. Chow was well known in the Santa Barbara area for making weather predictions that were supposedly better than government weather forecasts and is rumored to have predicted the disastrous 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake.
Mr. Chow worked for the Hollister family near Gaviota and received as a gift 33 acres of land near Lompoc from the Hollister Estate Company in 1928. He was angry at the theft of water and sued the city of Santa Barbara to regain watershed rights for the citizens of North County.
Chow understood that water rights laws were devised to restrict the export of water outside the geographical boundaries of the watershed. He thought he had a solid case and was aided by many local ranchers as he tried to make his point in a Santa Barbara courthouse.
This is where politics trumped the laws of the time. The county seat was, and still is, in Santa Barbara. All the movers and shakers of the time lived near the mission and presidio within the current city limits. Deals were often made, and court cases decided, in the evening hours over a fine meal while indulging in adult beverages and smoking fine imported cigars.
Gin Chow and his supporters made the long, dusty journey to the county seat to have their case heard by a “fair and impartial judge” of high reputation. Gin Chow never had a chance! The 1930 case was decided in favor of Santa Barbara. It stated that the city of Santa Barbara had the right to impound and divert water from the watershed of the Santa Ynez River.
This decision would haunt North County, and it laid the groundwork for a water rights feud that has continued to this day.
The political powers of the South Coast were emboldened by their triumph in 1930, so they conceived another plan to bring more water south. The Cachuma Project was born as the “solution” to South Coast water woes. It was constructed in the early 1950s and is owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
This project probably couldn’t be built today since it destroyed thousands of acres of “critical habitat,” ruined the steelhead salmon fishery, and obliterated thousands of years of Chumash culture. But politicians of the time, the forefathers of the current environmentally sensitive regime of the South Coast, saw no problem with the wanton destruction of a lively river and productive ranch land.
Lompoc natives report that steelhead were abundant and could be caught with a hay fork by young men at the riverbank prior to the start of Cachuma operations. One “official” steelhead count reported 44,000 fish as the census.
The fishery was discussed, and the proposals all stated that the flow of the river would not be interrupted—only stormwater was to be collected, water that would ordinarily flow out to sea.
Once the dam was complete, though, the gates were closed and the river dried up. Now the riverbed is dry all year long.
Yes, a case can be made that the Santa Ynez River was stolen using politics and political advantage. This is only one example of why there is and always will be a feud between northern and southern Santa Barbara County.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 19-26, 2022.