THE STONY CREEK WATER WARS - Affidavit of Allen T. Moore

THE STONY CREEK WATER WARS
Glenn County - Tehama County - Colusa County , California.
(c) 2009, Mike Barkley
Affidavit of Allen T. Moore

[A transcription of the document on file in the Angle Archives

Important because these affidavits were the first sworn response to Reclamation's suit, and Judge Van Fleet's ignoring them, as in not even reading them before issuing his injunction, set the tone for the rest of the litigation, as in the Court was there to support the government, not justice or equity.

In straight text without elaborate formatting. Any editorial comments by me are contained within brackets, "[]", which you may delete easily after downloading the "page source" to your own editing software if your browser allows source downloading. ]

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IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED
STATES, IN AND FOR THE NORTHERN
DIVISION OF THE NORTHERN DISTRICT
OF CALIFORNIA.

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THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff
-vs-
H.C. ANGLE, et al.
Defendants
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Affidavit of Allen T. Moore

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Filed June 10, 1918
Walter B. Maling, Clerk
By /s/ Thomas J. Franklin
Deputy Clerk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FRANK FREEMAN
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
WILLOWS, CAL.

[Handwritten:] Service of the within affidavit hereby admitted this 10th day of June 1918,
/s/ Ed. F. Jared, Asst. U.S. Atty,
Atty for Plaintiff

[end of cover]

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
IN AND FOR THE NORTHERN DIVISION OF
THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,

-vs-

H.C. ANGLE, A.M. ANDERSON, A.C. BAYLEY, L. BEDFORD, JOHN BEDFORD, M.G. BEDFORD, R.E. BLEVINS, I.L. FEIGHTNER, W.W. GATLIFF, IRA GREEN, AUG. GOLLNICK, LEONARD W. GOLLNICK, JAMES HARMON, REUBEN HARTMAN, VOLNEY HAYTON, C.A. HINELINE, CHAS. JAEGER, JOHN JOHANSEN [sic], JOHN JOHANSEN [sic], JR., J.E. KNIGHT, J.F. MALLON, G.W. MARKHAM, PRESTON MORRIS, WM. NIESEN, JAMES O'BRIEN, S.A. RALSTON, RAY SHIVELY, E.E. SMITH, JOHN H. SOETH, GEO. SOETH, FRED E. STRAWN, A.J. TRIPLETT, ABE L. TRIPLETT, FRANK TROXEL, F.W. TROXEL, LLOYD TROXEL, I.E. TRUE, J. VAN SCYOC, A.P. WAKEFIELD,

Defendants.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF GLENN ) ss.

ALLEN T. MOORE, being first duly sworn, deposes and says:
That he is at the present time a resident of the Town of Orland, County of Glenn, State of California, and has been a resident of the said County of Glenn and the County of Tehama in said State of California since the year 1890; that he is now and has been since the year 1892 well acquainted with the property known as the "W.B. Miller" property, a portion of which property lies in Sections 29, 31 and 32, Township 23 North, Range 4 West, M.D.B. & M. said property being located in the County of Tehama, State of California, and which property is involved in the above entitled action.

That there has been used continuously since the year 1892 from the flow of water in Stony Creek involved in this action for irrigation and domestic uses approximately five second feet of water, which said water was used for the

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above mentioned purposes on Sections 29 and 31 above described; that prior to the year 1892 there was constructed a ditch for the diversion of said water from said Stony Creek, the head of said ditch being located in the main flow of said Stony Creek, and was of a size of approximately six feet deep and five to six feet wide, and which head of said ditch was located in said Stony Creek in the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 31, Township 23 North, Range 4 West, M.D.B & M. and which said ditch ran in a northeasterly direction, gradually diminishing in size to a point where a head gate was located in said ditch, which said point was about 600 feet from the head of said ditch and probably located on Section 32 of said Township and Range, at which point said water was distributed on the lands irrigated from said waters, being the lands heretofore described of Sectin 29; that the said water after passing through said head gate was used upon the lands heretofore described for the irrigation of alfalfa, orchards and other crops, and after said irrigation said water was turned back into the said Stony Creek and became a part of the main flow of said Creek, all of which said points are above the diversion dam of the said Orland Project mentioned and described in Paragraph III of the Bill of Complaint herein; that at the time of the construction of said ditch and for many years thereafter the head of said ditch was located in the main flow of said Stony creek, but in later years the main channel of said Stony Creek changed and it became necessary in order to conduct the water from said main channel into said ditch to construct temporary ditches for that purpose;

That said water and said volume of water approximately five second feet, have been used continuously since the year 1892 down to the present time for the irrigation and development of the crops hereinbefore described; that said water is absolutely necessary for use upon said lands for irrigation and domestic uses and for the development of crops on said lands; that the lands so irrigated by said water are open, porous and gravelly soil, and immediately after the use of said water, it seeps back through said lands into the main flow of said Stony Creek, and diminishes the flow of said Stony Creek only to the extent of such evaporation as would occur under the conditions hereinbefore described, which would be an exceedingly small amount; that all of said ditches and said works for the use of said water are in good condition and there is no waste of any kind or

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character in the use of said water; that in order to properly use all of the water said lands hereinbefore described are entitled to by reason of being riparian owners and by user, it has been necessary to install a six inch pump which has been located on Section 31 of a normal capacity of about 900 gallons a minute, but the use of said water by said pump, which was installed some six or seven years prior to the date of this affidavit, does not in any way increase the volume of water to which said lands are entitled and became entitled by the user of said water and the construction of said ditch hereinbefore described for the diverting of said water from said Stony Creek; that the water furnished by said pump is now used and has been used upon Section 31 and for the same purposes that the water diverted by said ditch and in the same manner.

That affiant was well acquainted with the properties herein describe for many years prior to the year of 1903, at which time said affiant became the owner of said property and knows of all the matters and things to which he has testified to and set forth in this affidavit of his own knowledge; affiant sold said property to defendants J.E. Mallon and R.E. Blevins in the year 1906.

Affiant states that at all times mentioned in this affidavit there was ample water flowing in the said Stony Creek and past the head of said ditch to supply the full amount of water claimed in this affidavit, to wit, five second feet, and used on the premises hereinbefore described, and that the use of said water so claimed in nowise interferes or diminishes the amount of water appropriated and stored for the use of the Orland Project; that all of these waters so appropriated and used as set forth in this affidavit were used long prior to the organization of said Orland Project, or the appropriation or use of any of said waters by said Project.

/s/ Allen T. Moore

Subscribed and sworn to before me
this 8th day of June, 1918.
/s/ Edward E. H..... [garbled]
Notary public in and for the
County of Glenn,
State of California.

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--Mike Barkley, 161 N. Sheridan Ave. #1, Manteca, CA 95336 (H) 209/823-4817
mjbarkl@inreach.com