In 1897 the Southern California Mountain Water Company constructed a dam to create Lower Otay Reservoir. The dam forever changed the way the Otay River flowed.

In 1916, water levels at San Diego reservoirs dropped. Charles Hatfield, a famous "rainmaker", was hired by the San Diego City Council for $10,000. By 1902 he had created a secret mixture of 23 chemicals in large galvanized evaporating tanks that, he claimed, attracted rain. In 1916 his goal was to fill the Morena Reservoir.

After building a 20 foot tower and sending a secret mixture of chemicals into the air the rain "magically" began to fall. At the Lower Otay Dam the water level rose more than 27 feet in ten days. After three weeks of rain, the dam broke, sending millions of gallons of water 12 miles downstream to the bay. The Otay Valley was flooded. The wall of water destroyed everything in its path and killed many people. Hatfield was chased out of town and never paid.

The dam at Lower Otay was rebuilt in 1918 and renamed Savage Dam.

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