Needless to say, my ancestors were not among the 1850”s wagon train settlers, and I am therefore, somewhat hesitant to join a discussion of Lake County history. The subject at hand appeared in an article on the front page of the Record Bee titled, “Lake County Grand Canyon” (Record-Bee, Nov. 10). In general, the article discusses the origin and history of the huge fissure that runs perpendicular to Highway 29 at Manning Flat, between Red Hills Road and Lower Lake. As for the origin of the fissure, there are two possibilities discussed, natural causes and dynamiting by early settlers.
The following is my modest contribution. Sometime in 1974, my first year of practice, a very angry, irate gentleman came into our office, looking to hire a lawyer. He was the recent purchaser of Manning Flat, originally from Orange County, with plans to move to Lake County on a permanent basis. Shortly after buying the property, he built a small house – still standing – on the Southern end of the valley, and had rather extravagant plans for future development.
Historically, the property was utilized for a race track. Presumably, there were no fissures or canyons.
What follows is a brief description of the gentleman”s story. If I am about to violate attorney-client confidence, please forgive me and hopefully the State Bar and the client”s heirs will do likewise.
During the rainy winter of 1973-74, without his knowledge or consent, a ditch was dug in the present location of the fissure, presumably to prevent water from, draining across the highway. The ditch was about three-feet deep, ran perpendicular (90 degrees) to Highway 29 and extended a ways in the direction of Clear Lake.
The owner was most upset over the trespass but more importantly, he claimed that his land was ruined unless the situation was immediately rectified by the installation of a culvert. I was a city boy and none of this made much sense to me. How could a paltry ditch ruin this huge parcel? The client tried to explain the concept of land erosion and that just shoveling the dirt back into the ditch would not resolve the problem.
Apparently, prior to contacting our office, the client tried to play detective by making inquiries to Cal Trans and the County of Lake. They all denied digging the ditch or knowing who dug it, although it was obvious that it must have been done by or on behalf of the entity that owned and/or controlled Highway 29.
The landowner hired my firm to pursue the case. Since governmental entities were involved, first we had to file claims that were rejected. In the client”s estimation to fully repair the damage by installing a culvert of adequate size and length would have cost less than $20,000, subject to increase with the passage of every rainy season and inflation. He did not have the funds. The state and county refused to acknowledge responsibility and acted like the ditch ? whoever dug it ? took care of the drainage problem.
My memory is hazy on what happened next and why. It seems that the client ran out of steam. I recall health issues, family and financial problems. He was forced to abandon the case and the property as well. Since then, I have driven by the ditch, now the Grand Canyon, thousands of times and it still amazes how correct that angry gentleman”s predictions were. Although even during the worst of the rainstorms, there is only a trickle of water in the bottom of the ditch (Canyon), the erosion has been steady and devastating.
It appears that what would have cost less than $20,000 to fix in 1974 will now cost a small fortune. Judging by your article”s description of the proposed scope of work ? relocation of the road ? necessitated by the canyon, caving in the asphalt, we are looking at spending millions. Although I have advocated spending our tax money at home, and not in places like Iraq, this is not what I had in mind.
One final thought. Between 1974 and 2007, while driving up and down Highway 29, how could the responsible state and county officials fail to notice that what was a ditch in 1974 has been developing into a Lake County Grand Canyon?
Tibor E. Minor
Attorney At Law
Lakeport
