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Progress continues to be made in the state’s effort to connect East Porterville residents to a new sustainable water source after hundreds of homeowner’s wells went dry during California’s five-year drought.
The state’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) are jointly leading the effort to connect East Porterville residents to the City of Porterville’s municipal water supply as a long-term solution to East Porterville’s current drought emergency as well as any future droughts. Residents of East Porterville, an unincorporated area in Tulare County, have been relying on deliveries of bottled water and non-potable water trucked in to large temporary water tanks installed on their properties. This unsustainable enterprise has been funded by the state at a monthly cost of more than $650,000.
An informational community meeting was held October 5 at Granite Hills High School regarding the East Porterville Water Supply Project. Representatives from DWR, SWRCB, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and non-profits Community Water Service (CWC), Self-Help Enterprises (SHE) and Community Services Employment Training (CSET) were on hand to explain the project and the process property owners must follow to receive water deliveries through City of Porterville distribution lines. Interpreter services were available for the largely Spanish-speaking residents.
Homeowners whose wells have gone dry are eligible for the project, which is being financed by the State of California. Impacted residents are required to compete a three-step sign-up process and avoid a connection cost of at least $10,000.
“We really need more engagement by property owners if the project is to fulfill its potential,” Project Manager Robert Trang said. He emphasized the urgency with which property owners should join the project. “This is an extraordinary no-cost opportunity for owners to connect to the City of Porterville’s water system and permanently end their personal water emergency, not only for this drought but for future droughts as well,” he said.
Property owners must sign a consent form and a contract called an extraterritorial service agreement (ESA), and finally, they must open a utility account with the City of Porterville. From start to finish, the paperwork takes about three weeks; the actual timing to connect to the system will depend on the schedule to lay new distribution lines and complete additional infrastructure. The project’s first connection to an East Porterville home with existing water lines was made on August 19. December 31 is the project’s target date to deliver water to all Phase 1 property owners, but meeting that date will require completion of the pipeline construction and the owners’ three-step sign-up process.
DWR Phase 1 Project Manager Trang said approximately 300 East Porterville properties are eligible for the Phase 1 this year. “The deadline to complete the ESA is November 7,” he said. “The sooner (home)owners complete this important step, the sooner they can open a utility account and be scheduled for a connection to new water lines that are being laid in East Porterville.”
As of September 29, only about half of the first 70 eligible properties in Phase 1A had completed all three steps, and a much lower percentage of the remaining 234 properties in Phase 1 had completed the process. Steve Doe, DWR’s project manager for 2017’s Phase 2, said up to 700 additional homes are eligible to be connected to new distribution lines during Phase 2.
Eligible East Porterville residents who participate in the project by agreeing to annex their property to the City of Porterville will bear none of the connection costs. Once connected, the residents’ state-funded water deliveries will end, the temporary water tanks will be removed from their property and their water wells will be capped. Post connection property owners will receive a monthly water bill from the City of Porterville.
