In 1884, a group of ranchers from Redlands rode up over 5,000 feet of elevation into the mountains to their north, where they built a rock dam to collect water for agriculture. It was an ambitious feat — at the time, the reservoir was the largest artificial lake in the world — that forever reshaped the green valley that once teemed with grizzly bears. 

Big Bear is now in many ways defined by that lake, which provides a backdrop for the four-season tourist destination, from winter skiers and snowboarders to summer boaters and hikers. 

But in recent years, the lake has been plagued by drought-fueled low water levels, followed by short recovery stints after heavy winter storms, making it a prime example of the climate change-fueled whiplash that’s being experienced across California. Meanwhile, the communities that have popped up around Big Bear Lake — filled with year-round residents who keep the businesses running and the community functioning — are staring down an uncertain water future. 

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FILE: Lakeside homes were about a half-mile from the water on Big Bear Lake in 2021.

The water issues are hard to spot from the docks. After all, Big Bear Valley is centered around a giant, gleaming blue body of water. But that water is technically still owned by the successors of those 19th-century ranchers. The mountain communities, meanwhile, rely entirely on local groundwater fed by precipitation. And once that groundwater is gone — after running through local faucets and showerheads, getting flushed down toilets, or spraying out from a sprinkler — it’s gone for good.

Treated wastewater, meanwhile, is piped down the mountain to Lucerne Valley, where it’s eventually used to irrigate alfalfa fields, along with other uses. 

“We just can’t keep doing that. There’s over 40 billion gallons we’ve sent down to Lucerne Valley since 1980; it just leaves the valley and goes down to a different aquifer and recharges a different aquifer,” said David........

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