As time went on, the amount of water available to downstream owners diminished as canals were constructed upstream.
When the Calloway Canal was completed in 1879, it effectively cutoff all remaining water downstream.
This led to a water war between Henry Miller/Charles Lux (downstream) and James Haggin/Lloyd Tevis (upstream).
The outcome would govern the rights to the Kern River through the present day, and set the precedent for similar cases throughout Western America.
In 1967, Kern County Land Company was purchased by Tenneco West, the first time the water rights were owned by an outside interest.
Groundwater wells owned by the California Water Service Company were routinely running dry and had to be deepened.
Also, Tenneco West was beginning to receive offers from other companies and Southern California water districts for purchasing its rights to the Kern River.
With a real concern of the southern San Joaquin Valley suffering a similar fate as the Owens Valley (agricultural land became a desert when Los Angeles Department of Water and Power acquired water rights to the Owens River), the city moved to protect its rights.
The city also condemned the first 77,000 acre-feet (95,000,000 m3) of Kern River water and wanted payment for damages to any party that violated it.
After the final details were worked out, the citizens approved a bond measure for the purchase in 1976.