 Increased runoff from farmlands resulted in extensive erosion, which led to the creation of a stream channel that ran northwestwards into the Santa Ana River channel and thence the Upper Newport Bay.As siltation problems plagued the bay, the Bitter Point Dam was constructed to divert the Santa Ana River to its present mouth at Huntington Beach, leaving the Cienega/San Diego Creek as the main watercourse flowing into the bay.To support irrigation, farmers drilled numerous wells to tap the region's abundant groundwater.