{"id":177770,"date":"2026-02-14T08:55:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/177770\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T08:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:55:06","slug":"woman-walking-discovers-military-ordnance-in-california-aqueduct-in-hesperia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/177770\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Walking Discovers Military Ordnance in California Aqueduct in Hesperia"},"content":{"rendered":"

HESPERIA, Calif. (VVNG.com) \u2014 San Bernardino County Sheriff\u2019s Department\u00a0deputies, along with the department\u2019s Bombs and Arson Division, responded Thursday afternoon to a report of military ordnance discovered inside the California Aqueduct in Hesperia. <\/p>\n

The discovery was made on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at about 4:00 p.m., near the pump plant in the Summit Valley area. <\/p>\n

Naynay Nevarez told VVNG she was walking the trail along the California Aqueduct, taking videos of debris, when she noticed an object inside the aqueduct.<\/p>\n

Spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff\u2019s Department, Jenny L. Smith, said, \u201cThe reporting party found a possible mortar.\u201d<\/p>\n

(video by Naynay Nevarez)<\/p>\n

Smith said deputies contacted the Sheriff\u2019s Department Bombs and Arson Division, who found the military ordnance and \u201crendered the area safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevarez said deputies closed off the area and, after dark, she heard a loud \u201cboom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did a controlled detonation in the aqueduct,\u201d stated Nevarez.<\/p>\n

After authorities cleared the area, Nevarez said she returned and recorded video showing where the ordnance had been located, along with scorch marks left behind from the detonation.<\/p>\n

At the time of the discovery, water levels inside the aqueduct were noticeably low. The reduced water flow may be related to the ongoing Aqueduct Bridge demolition project on Ranchero Road in\u00a0Hesperia, though officials have not confirmed a connection.<\/p>\n

No additional information about how long the ordnance had been in the aqueduct or its origin was immediately available.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"(Photo by Naynay Nevarez)<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Victor Valley News Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\n \ud83d\udce2 Stay connected with the High Desert\u2019s largest news community!\n <\/p>\n

\n \ud83d\udd17 For more local news, visit VVNG.com<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

Note to readers: If you value our reporting and want to see it continue, consider becoming a monthly supporter. Your contribution helps keep independent, local news accessible to everyone. Support local news today!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HESPERIA, Calif. (VVNG.com) \u2014 San Bernardino County Sheriff\u2019s Department\u00a0deputies, along with the department\u2019s Bombs and Arson Division, responded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[84487,84488,7,38876,9,8,84489,22012,84490,84491,1492,84492,29387,84493],"class_list":{"0":"post-177770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-aqueduct-bridge-demolition","9":"tag-bombs-and-arson-division","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-california-aqueduct","12":"tag-california-headlines","13":"tag-california-news","14":"tag-controlled-detonation","15":"tag-hesperia","16":"tag-military-ordnance","17":"tag-mortar","18":"tag-public-safety","19":"tag-ranchero-road","20":"tag-san-bernardino-county-sheriffs-department","21":"tag-summit-valley"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}