<P> On the trip Wilson came upon a broad watershed teeming with wildlife, particularly bear . His posse immediately became a hunting party where the men were split into 11 pairs, each pair bringing back a bear hide . Wilson dubbed the grassy expanse "Bear Valley" and one of the nearby shallow seasonal marshes "Big Bear Lake". This same ephemeral feature is today called Baldwin Lake after Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin of Rancho Santa Anita fame, who bought the nearby Gold Mountain Mine that was renamed for him in 1876 . On Wilson's return trip (the posse had presumably lost interest in tracking renegade Indians), the party took 11 more bear pelts . </P> <P> In 1859, the newly discovered valley became a venue for gold prospectors . William F. Holcomb, a prospector from Indiana, moved to Los Angeles from the Northern California mines where he heard about the prospecting at Big Bear . He moved to Starvation Flats, where he had little luck the first winter . Because of his marksmanship, he was hired by several of the other miners to hunt bear for meat . With his Indian companion, Holcomb tracked, shot and wounded a grizzly bear one ridge north of Bear Valley . There he noticed a vein of quartz flecked with gold . When this discovery was revealed, the Southern California gold rush was on, and Holcomb Valley quickly became the largest populated area in San Bernardino County . </P> <P> In 1884 marshy, nearly flat Bear Valley was dammed with a single arch granite impoundment, which held back some 25,000 acre feet (31,000 dam) of water for irrigation purposes in the Redlands area . Redlands citrus growers found that the 1884 dam produced insufficient water . The Bear Valley Mutual Water Company (successor to Bear Valley Irrigation Company) hired John S. Eastwood to design a new dam . In 1912 a 72 ft (22 m) multiple arch dam was constructed about 300 ft (91 m) downstream of the old dam and increased the lake capacity to 73,000 acre feet (90,000 dam). The original granite dam still remains, usually under about 20 feet of water . A highway bridge (SR 18) was built over the arches of the new dam in 1923 . A new bypass bridge was built next to the old bridge in 2009, and the old bridge on top of the new dam was removed (12). Elevation at the surface is 6,750 ft (2,060 m), but this level fluctuates according to annual snowmelt and runoff . Big Bear Municipal Water District acquired the dam and other assets from the Mutual Water Company in 1977 . </P> <P> The unregulated hunting of grizzly bear in the San Bernardinos took a heavy toll upon the once significant native population, and by 1906 all the local Ursus californicus were killed off . </P>

Who owns the water in big bear lake