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Apr 30, 2008 4:15 pm US/Pacific
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Off The Beaten Path: Leaking Ditch
TUOLUMNE (CBS13) ―
There's a water war going on in the Tuolumne County these days. I say some ranchers there are fighting for water rights they say are historic.
Thousands of Tuolumne County residents still get their irrigation water the same way their great grandparents did, through 56 miles of earthen ditches. The Algerine Ditch was built in the 1870's. Ranch owner Ron Butler says the ditch has always fed this favorite watering hole for cattle.
"There's only a little trickle of water that ends up here," says Butler.
Butler says now ditch is dry because the utility district that provides water to it shut off the supply. The utility says it had to because the ditch is leaking as much as 160,000 gallons a day. John Vigienzoni is another ranch owner who argues the utility has a duty to history.
"To me any water saved or not put in the Algerine ditch is available to anyone except me," he explains.
Sarah Barnum is a fifth generation rancher here.
"We are trying really hard, but you can't do it without water. You can't do it without water," she says.
She says these pictures show the leaks are because the utility district hasn't maintained the ditch.
Jerry Whitehead is water master for the Tuolumne Utilities District. He showed me another nearby ditch and says it doesn't make economic sense adding more pipe to the Algerine or sealing it with concrete when so few pay for the water.
"We don't have enough customers. On four miles of ditch, the guy at the end is the only customer. So, we as a district, why should we just run water down there, just to be good guys? I mean the whole district pays for that," he explains.
Ranchers say that the ditch not only supports their cattle, it also supports a lot of the environment.
They argue cutting that water has already killed some wildlife.
The utility and residents are hoping to resolve this water war before the long hot and dry days of summer arrive.
It's popular misconception that many of those ditches were built by Chinese laborers. In fact, many were dug by hand by Italian settlers.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)