CWA approves quitclaim for Bonsall easement

Nearly 39 years after mistakenly including part of existing Bonsall structures in an easement granted to the San Diego County Water Authority, the CWA board approved a quitclaim of that portion of the easement.

On January 11, 1968, the CWA obtained an 0.78-acre easement for Pipeline 4 of the Second Aqueduct from Rudolfo and Virginia Correa, who still own the property in the 32000 block of Aqueduct Road. The CWA paid $10 for the easement.

The legal description for that easement parcel inadvertently included a portion of the existing single-family residence and detached garage. Since the compensation didn’t include the house and garage, it was agreed that they were not meant to be included in the acquisition. The error in the legal description was discovered shortly after the recording of the easement, and on February 28, 1968, a revised right of way map was produced to show a 15-foot notch around the garage and house. Right of way notches are common throughout the aqueduct system, but the revised map was not recorded with the County Recorder’s office, nor was the corrected legal description, and the Grant of Easement was never revised to show or describe the notch.

In 1971 the CWA filed a Record of Survey to show the right of way with the intended notch, but no action was taken to correct the legal easement description. In 2006, however, during the CWA’s normal course of business it was discovered that the two buildings protruded into the right of way. The CWA reviewed the history of the easement and discovered that the easement description never included the notch. The current CWA staff determined that the 1971 Record of Survey, along with the price paid for the easement, indicated that the CWA’s original intent was to correct the mistake through the notch.

Because no compensation was paid for the portion of the easement which included the house and garage, no compensation to the CWA was requested for the quitclaim. Since board approval is needed to dispose of CWA property, the quitclaim went to the CWA board on November 30 and was approved to correct the error 38 years, 10 months, and 19 days after the original mistake.