Irrigation District Plans to Pull the Plug on Water Pilfering

Water rustlers beware. The Santa Fe Irrigation District doesn’t take kindly to people who pilfer its precious commodity.

District officials filed a crime report with the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, claiming someone has been siphoning water from a flume. The action came after irrigation district workers last week found a garden hose and a narrow flexible pipe illegally rigged into the Hodges Flume, a trough that carries water from Lake Hodges to San Dieguito Reservoir.

After removing the ends from the flume, the workers traced the hose--the pipe was buried underground--to the property of attorney Ronald Leeper, according to James Tolley, the irrigation district’s general manager.

Tolley said a notice was sent last Friday to Leeper that the siphoning matter would be discussed at Monday’s irrigation district board meeting. When Leeper failed to attend the meeting, the board ordered Tolley to file a report with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and to begin civil proceedings against Leeper.

“We just basically want (the siphoning) to stop,” Tolley said. “And we want people to know that we won’t permit . . . stealing water from the district in any way without us following through . . . to get it stopped.”

Reached at his office, Leeper said he was “kind of bewildered” by the chain of events. He said he had not received the irrigation district’s letter and had not heard from them, although he said several reporters had called about the matter.

(The district included an account of the siphoning operation in the news release it sends out describing board of directors’ actions.)

Leeper refused to comment when asked if he had rigged the siphons.

“I’m sitting here in the dark,” Leeper said. “I’m not sure who accused who. What I don’t understand is why they don’t pick up the telephone and give me a call. That’s the courteous thing. That’s the way you do business in the world. I keep anticipating phone calls.”

Tolley said he wasn’t going to call Leeper to “tell him we’re going to slap his hand.” Tolley estimated the value of the water siphoned at a maximum of $100, “if he’s been doing it for a year’s time.”

This is not the first time the irrigation district has gotten tough with people they consider to be water rustlers. In 1980, district officials accused a Rancho Santa Fe physician of stealing water by illegally tapping into a district water line. Rather than press charges, the district sent a bill of $1,387, including a penalty charge, to Dr. Thomas Laughlin, who paid up rather than have his water shut off.

The siphoning rig to the Leeper property was found by workers inspecting the 5-mile-long Hodges Flume. The flume, built in 1918, runs within 10 feet of the rear of Leeper’s property on Paseo Delicias, just east of the Rancho Santa Fe covenant area.

Workers found the ends of the hose and flexible pipe submerged in the flume. The pipe was connected to a drip irrigation system that watered plants and trees on the property, Tolley said. The hose was connected to a spigot at the house. Tolley guessed that the purpose of the house connection was to quickly charge the hose, removing air pockets, thus making the hose ready for siphoning.

Tolley said the 4-foot-deep, 5-foot-wide flume is covered with boards, with no signs warning against stealing water.

“It’s just like there are no signs in the grocery store saying it’s illegal to take apples out of the bins,” Tolley said. “I presume he (Leeper) knows it’s not his property and not free for the taking.”

Stealing water from a flume is a misdemeanor under California law, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.