Before there was a completed tunnel at Eagle Lake, there was one company, the Eagle Lake Land & Irrigation Company who successfully tapped the lake and sent water flowing all the way to the Honey Lake Valley at Amedee. They did this a Hooker Hydraulic pump that had the capacity to move 60,000 gallons of water per minute. In summer of 1892, it was installed on the eastshore at Dodge’s Bay. While it was being installed, twenty-one miles of irrigation canal was constructed. On September 15, 1892, it was tested and water was sent flowing to Amedee—a reality. The company considered it a temporary measure—one to raise funds while they would embark on their own tunnel near the same location as the pumping plant. The company was so far in debt that in 1894 it was shut down. In 1903, the machinery from the plant was hauled to the Wilson sawmill near Susanville.

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