Domenigoni Reservoir

I read with interest Bill Boyarsky’s column on the Domenigoni Reservoir, near Hemet, which is being built by the Metropolitan Water District (June 22).

I would like to correct one statement. The majority of the 4,000 acres under the reservoir and most of the surrounding hills were not farmed by the Domenigoni family. For nearly a century, however, they were farmed for five generations by the Searl family and the Garbani (Joe, Fred and Jim) family.

The Domenigoni family actually contributes a very small percentage of the total acreage acquired by Metropolican Water District for the benefit of the reservoir. It is unfortunate that the other families who farmed the area for 100 years seem to be forgotten by the press, and in all honesty, the MWD.

The MWD is calling the entire area the lake will consume Domenigoni, which apparently came from some old map. Most residents and “old-timers” in the Hemet area have always referred to the reservoir site as Diamond Valley. The pioneer Domenigoni family farmed a large acreage of land west of the reservoir which is not a part of the current reservoir site.

JOYCE SEARL

Hemet