Thousands of settlers flocked to Redlands and surrounding communities, and many who bought land along the Zanja did not hesitate to take water from it. In numerous lawsuits, citrus growers along Mission Road claimed that all the water was theirs, citing its history as a man-made irrigation canal, while people upstream argued that the Zanja was a free-flowing natural stream. The Zanja was determined to be man-made, a victory for the citrus growers, but other water sources were already beginning to supersede it. Artesian wells tapped the huge Bunker Hill aquifer, electricity allowed growers to reach deeper wells, and Redlands developers dammed Bear Valley to create Big Bear Lake, supplying ample water for many decades. Regardless of how it was delivered, water in the valley depended on annual snowfall on Mount San Gorgonio and the other high peaks surrounding San Bernardino Valley. The Zanja changed the course of local history by bringing water to feed farms and orchards for nearly a hundred years.