Rancher Rejects Water District Proposal in Dispute Over Tenants

The owner of a ranch that houses 35 low-income families has rejected a proposal from the Santa Ana Mountains County Water District to resolve their longstanding battle, saying he will “destroy this water district.”

Sam Porter, owner of “Porterville,” the 300-acre ranch in the hills of Trabuco Canyon, on Wednesday rejected a proposal that would have allowed the families to continue living on the ranch if Porter built a communal bathroom facility for them. Two weeks ago, the district board told him that he had six months to disconnect the water from their homes or his water would be shut off.

Porter, himself a water district board member for two years, said the district’s new proposal is unacceptable because it would require him to disconnect water to the individual homes on his ranch.

“I am not going to shut the water off,” Porter said. “I will not negotiate the right of the families living here.”

In January, the district found that Porter had connected 14 of the trailers and shacks on the property to one water meter, in violation of district rules.

Other water district board members said the proposal made Wednesday was reasonable because it would allow the families to remain on the ranch while conforming to the rules of the district.

“We are making this proposal out of compassion for the people living there,” said board member Charles Wall. “We are bending over backward to offer this to him.”

The proposal would call for Porter to pay $2,000 for a new water meter and to build a four-bathroom, communal facility on his ranch.

Porter, who has housed low-income families on his ranch for nine years, said he will attempt to organize a recall election. “I am just going to have to destroy this water district,” he said.

Two weeks ago, Porter asked the district to give him 14 months to evict the families. The district made a counterproposal, setting the deadline at six months. But Porter rejected it and stormed out of the meeting.