Howard Harris helped bring San Felipe water to SBC
Howard Harris, whose name adorns the county Farm Bureau building
because of his efforts to bring in blue valve water to farmers and
his lifelong work with the 4-H, died Dec. 1, 2002. He was 92.
Howard Harris helped bring San Felipe water to SBC
Howard Harris, whose name adorns the county Farm Bureau building because of his efforts to bring in blue valve water to farmers and his lifelong work with the 4-H, died Dec. 1, 2002. He was 92.
Mr. Harris was one of the most influential people in San Benito County during the 20th century and was the leader of a lawsuit against the City of Hollister that limited the amount of water it could pump from the Cienega Valley. He sold his family homestead 25 years ago to the state for the Hollister Hills State Recreation area for off-road vehicles.
Harris, stricken with bone cancer years ago, seemed to defy his health problems and remain active until the end, especially in 4-H, which he served as a volunteer for 70 years, a national record. He was known as a tireless record-keeper to kept countless documents in binders in his home.
A broken hip in October 2000 forced him to move to Southside Convalescent Hospital. He died at St. Louise Regional Medical Center.
Mr. Harris’ grandfather, Marion Crow, moved to a log cabin on Pescadero Creek before the turn of the century. Mr. Harris was born in Oakland but moved in with his grandfather 82 years ago and attended the Vineyard School, a one-room schoolhouse on Cienega Road. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1932 with a degree in biology.
During the Great Depression, Mr. Harris saved his family’s land from foreclosure by inventing a chemical process to extract magnesium from dolomite. This enabled the family to sell 230 dolomite-laced acres to Cement Baron Henry Kaiser for $25,000.
Great-grandfather Jesse Whitton came to California with John C. Fremont and bought several hundred acres of land in Cienega that was later turned into Hollister Hills State Recreation Park. Mr. Harris lobbied the state to buy his family ranch. Mr. Harris also helped write federal regulations for off-road vehicle use on public land.
Mr. Harris first educated himself about water rights when he took on his neighbors, the Martins, over water rights to Bird Creek. During the 1980s he helped a group of ranchers defeat the city of Hollister in a water dispute, arguing that the city was lowering the water table in the Cienega Valley by pumping from a well near Pescadero Creek. An out-of-court agreement limited how much water the city could take from the well and forced it to rely more on the aquifer.
Mr. Harris eventually established a consulting firm that specialized in water rights, taking Granite Rock as one of his clients. Mr. Harris found the original claim made by Abraham Sally on the San Benito River in 1875, which was the foundation of several organizations including the Hollister Irrigation Company, the Hollister Land and Excavation Company, the Hollister Water District, and the San Benito Control and Flood District – all precursors of the San Benito County Water District.
As a member of the San Benito County Farm Bureau, Mr. Harris helped push a bill through the state legislature that gives the county access to federal “blue valve” water, which effectively freed local farmers from the seasonal effects of drought. In 1996, the farm bureau honored Mr. Harris by naming the headquarters on San Benito Street after him.
Mr. Harris was involved in the community around him. He regularly wrote letters to the editor and recorded his thoughts and memories on different issues in loose-leaf binders. In 1984, Mr. Harris received a letter of commendation from President Ronald Reagan for what was then his 50 years as a 4-H volunteer.
Mr. Harris is a former San Benito County “Man of the Year,” was founding director of Diamond Walnut Growers Association and developed mechanical equipment for harvesting. He was chairman of the Off Road Advisory Commission to the Bureau of Land Management and was on the BLM’s National Advisory Committee.
Mr. Harris is survived by his wife, Bess B. Harris of Hollister, whom he married after his first wife, Florence, died in January 1982. Bess and Florence had been childhood friends and Bess was a widow at the time. He also is survived by his sons Marvin Harris of Alabama, Donald Harris and Glenn Harris of Ridgecrest, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Martha Heim.
At Mr. Harris’ request, arrangements for private cremation have been made through Grunnagle Ament Nelson Funeral Home and Crematory.
Private inurnment will follow. Memorials may be made to the San Benito 4-H Council, the Cancer Society or the Diabetes Association.
