George

In this original proceeding in mandamus the petitioners seek the peremptory writ compelling the respondents, as the board of supervisors of the Los Angeles Flood Control District, to proceed to construct a dam at the San Gabriel Canyon dam site of the height of 425 feet above the bed of the stream with a storage capacity of 240,000 acre-feet of water, or to construct to completion a dam of such height and capacity as can be constructed for the sum of $25,000,000. It is made to appear by the allegations of the petition that at a special election called for that purpose on May 24, 1924, the voters of the Los Angeles Flood Control District authorized bonds in the sum of $25,000,000 for the purpose of constructing a dam at the forks of the San Gabriel River of the height and capacity just mentioned, in accordance with a report of the engineer employed by the board of supervisors to make a report thereon and at the estimated cost of $25,000,000; that on May 18, 1927, the board passed a resolution reciting that subsequent exploration studies had demonstrated that a dam 385 feet high and with a capacity of 180,000 acre-feet would be sufficient, and changed the plans and specifications…