Homeowners with dry wells in Central Valley see water relief

Stanislaus County, located in the heart of the Central Valley, is responding to the California drought in a dramatic way. Residents whose wells have run dry are able to apply for temporary water assistance from the County. A 3,000-gallon tank is installed on the side of approved resident’s home. The tank should supply enough water to sustain a home for a month, assuming the household uses only 100 gallons of water per day.

As part of their application, homeowners must show that they have a solid plan in place for installing a new well on their property. So far, the County has received 32 applications, eight of which have had on-site assessments.

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors approved the program July 28. The program provides 50 gallons a day for each member in the household and is being paid for by California’s $1 billion emergency drought relief fund. Because the funds come from the relief fund, residents are not charged for the installation or refilling of temporary tanks.

“I just want to thank everybody that worked on bringing this water to our residents who are out of water,” Supervisor William O’Brien told The Turlock Journal. “It was a very quick turnaround in government time.”

Genaro Gil, the first recipient of a State-funded tank, was relying on bottled water to brush his teeth, bathe and cook while he waited for his well to be drilled deeper. He was making biweekly trips to Costco to buy pallets of bottle water in order to go about everyday life.

“This is a blessing from the skies,” Gil told The Turlock Journal. “Drillers are just overwhelmed, so thank God for this program. It has me smiling.”

Drilling companies have been swamped with requests for the drilling of new wells or drilling existing wells to make them deeper, in large part because of the California drought. Right now, the average wait time for drilling is a year to a year and a half. This wait time is what prompted the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors to act.

Homeowners who wish to apply for temporary water assistance can find the application here.