MATILIJA CANYON : Water District Ends Job of Dam Tender

A fire that destroyed the Matilija Dam tender’s house in October has ended 42 years of having a resident watchman guard the fragile dam northwest of Ojai.

Casitas Municipal Water District directors recently decided to abandon the part-time dam tender position after weighing costs to replace the residence and their liability to insure his family in rugged Matilija Canyon.

Jim Logsdon, the district’s meter crew foreman, doubled as the resident dam tender for four years until he accidentally cut a propane line while excavating a leaking water pipe.

The resulting blaze destroyed the 1,200-square-foot house and its contents, including wedding gifts from his week-old marriage, Logsdon said. His wife and two children were away and no one was injured.

The water district has leased a temporary residence for the Logsdons, and their friends held fund-raisers to help replace their uninsured belongings.

Casitas officials, who called Logsdon an exemplary employee, said the fire revealed the potential risks in maintaining a dam residence.

Instead, the district board has opted to use automatic daily hydrological and meteorological readings and to assign Logsdon and other workers to periodically monitor the dam, operate its valves and chase away trespassers.

Matilija Dam was declared unsafe soon after it was built with unstable concrete in 1948. It was notched several times to lower its water capacity, and the California Bureau of Dam Safety has never required a dam tender there as it does for Casitas Dam at Lake Casitas, officials said.