CHAPTER NINE
The Shifting BattleThe Santa Innes riverbed was bone dry. The dusty, snaking trail was once full of fresh water for the area around Sea Valley. Then the dam was built. Thirteen miles east was the Gibraltar-Bradbury Dam, and the large lake beyond its massive concrete structure. The lake was now the local place for camping, fishing and most of the local water supply. The dam that stood at the gateway only let water into the dusty riverbed when overcapacity. With a history of California droughts, the bed had been bereft of water for years.
Sea Valley was built around this old river and had three bridges over it where the snaking river cut into the city – one on each end of town and the other near the center. The riverbed curled in and around Sea Valley, mostly hugging the oute
