John Boggess is very clear when it comes to water wells.

Boggess owned his own water-well drilling company for 20 years before moving to Lindcove, a small community of about 150 homes east of Exeter. His trained eye can spot a contaminated well a mile a way, and upon first glance, he says most of the private wells in the rural Tulare County community are not safe for drinking.

“My neighbor's water is so bad that she can't even take a shower in it,” Boggess said. “It's pretty typical of most of the wells drilled in this area.”

Boggess said most of the wells in Lindcove are “open wells” which do not block surface water from direct contact with groundwater. Drilled prior to the 1960s, Boggess said the wells are easily contaminated because they are only about 80-100 feet deep, where pesticide residues and dilapidated septic lines leak into the drinking water.

More than a year ago, Boggess helped form a committee of residents to begin working with the county on a solution to poor water quality in Lindcove.

But the issues become cloudier when talking with the mostly poor residents.

Boggess said most residents did not understand that their drinking water was unsafe, and even less could afford to pay the $50 fee to have it tested.

“That's a lot of money to poor people out here,” he said.

Town Hall meeting

Lindcove was just one of four communities whose residents were invited to attend a town hall meeting held by Supervisor Allen Ishida.

About 50, mostly Spanish-speaking residents from Lindcove, Tooleville, Plainview and Tonyville attended the Aug. 3 meeting at the Lindsay Veterans Memorial Building. Ishida said it was the first time anyone had gotten the communities together to provide information on county services and solutions to water quality problems throughout the unincorporated communities in Tulare County.

“When I took office I said I would pay more attention to the unincorporated communities and I think this was a big step in that direction,” Ishida said. “This gives each of the communities a chance to ask questions and all hear the same answer, so we are all on the same page.”

Ishida was joined by representatives from the county Resource Management Agency's community development branch, county Environmental Health and Self-Help Enterprises (SHE), which helps farm worker and low-income communities with housing, sewer and water development and homebuyer programs throughout the San Joaquin Valley.

Water quality and water bills were the main concerns of all of the communities. On average, rural county residents pay about $40 per month for water, which is nearly double what residents pay in neighboring cities. Paul Boyer, a project engineer with Self-Help Enterprises, addressed the issues and pointed out that the largest contaminant in local water was nitrates, but they are also dealing with fertilizer, arsenic, and radiological.

Nitrates are known to cause “blue baby” syndrome, which, if absorbed by a growing fetus, can be converted to nitrite, a natural inhibitor to the flow of oxygen in the blood stream. The chemical reaction causes shortness of breath and blueness of the skin. Lifelong exposure for adults can cause spleen hemorrhaging.

Tooleville

Boyer said the community of Tooleville is just one step away from solving its own quality problems.

Tooleville's water problems came to head in the summer 2001 after one of the local water association's pumps broke and reduced water pressure to the 77 homes along two dead-end streets, Morgan and Alfred, off Spruce Road east of Exeter.

A group of Tooleville residents approached the City of Exeter about connecting to the city's modernized water system after the California Department of Health Services (DHS) shut down the Morgan Street well after it tested with dangerous levels of nitrates. The City Council refused to take action fearing that the annexation would violate Exeter's charter status with the state. As a charter city, Exeter is not required to pay prevailing wage for city government projects, which often increases the cost of the project by at least 30%.

In summer 2004, the water pressure dropped below 10 pounds per square inch, well below the normal range of 65-80 psi. The problem was so bad, that residents rotated their water use to build up pressure to a few a homes at a time. Water quality in Tooleville was also at an all-time low. Later that year, the community's third and final well also tested for unsafe levels of nitrates, forcing residents to only use bottled water. Some residents had to buy as much as 18-20 gallons a week during the summer months. There was even a three-day stretch where there was no water at all.

Tooleville's Water Mutual Association board was forced to increase water rates because many residents refused to pay for any water. Several public meetings were held to address the issue at the Exeter Memorial Building, but residents began fighting, so bad that the police were called to break them up.

“It is very important that you back your water boards, otherwise these communities could lose the grant money for these projects,” Ishida told the crowd.

Boyer said preliminary engineering had been completed in Tooleville for a project that will drill a new well, install a new storage tank to improve water pressure and possibly tie into the city of Exeter's water system to lower the cost of water bills.

The United State Department of Agriculture's Rural Development branch has already obligated $375,000 if enough money can be from another funding source to cover the remainder of the estimated $1.5 million project. The county has requested a $770,000 grant from California Department of Health Services (DHS) to fund the entire project, but there is no official word on whether or not that money will be awarded to Tooleville, Boyer said.

Before a new well can be drilled, Boyer said a contract must be signed by the engineering firm and then the design can go out for bid, which is expected to happen next month. Tooleville's water association must also acquire land on which to drill the well. The board is negotiating a land swap with a neighboring property owner. The community's oldest well is located in the middle of the private property lot. USDA requires that the water association own the lot on which the well will be drilled. None of the money for the project will be awarded until construction of the well begins.

Boyer said there is also hope for lowering water bills for the predominantly low-income community. The City of Exeter said it would consider annexing the water district if the State Attorney General issued an opinion that the action would not violate the city's charter status. If the district were to connect to Exeter, their water bills would be closer to $14 instead of the $40 they pay now.

Plainview

Plainview, a community of about 200 homes west of Lindsay, experienced many of the same problems as Tooleville.

Like Tooleville, Boyer reported that preliminary engineering had already been completed. A test site in Plainview drilled Aug. 1, proved that a new well would produce good quality water that is safe for drinking. The plan will replace existing water lines in the alleys and run lines underground threw the streets, a new pressure tank for the community and add fire hydrants.

The USDA has offered the Plainview Mutual Non-Profit Water Company a $1 million grant to get the project moving. However, that money hinges on additional money needed to cover the estimated cost of $2.3 million project.

DHS has verbally offered an additional $1 million grant and a $294,000 loan which will raise water bills by $5 per month. Most in attendance agreed that if it meant that the quality of water improved then $5 was acceptable. Boyer said it is a 0% interest loan. Neither has been officially awarded to Plainview.

The attorneys have sent out an offer letter to purchase the land. The appraisal and title report have already been completed for the property. The engineering firm should have a contract to start design this week.

Ishida said Plainview is in the best position to improve and maintain its water system because it takes about 200 homes to cover the cost of a small water system. Plainveiw residents pay about $25 per month, which is the lowest rate among individual rural water districts. The community may also quality for federally and state-funded low-income housing programs and projects.

Tonyville

Located just north of Lindsay, Tonyville's 48 homes only pay about $17.50 per month for water, which is cheaper than Woodlake and Lindsay.

Unlike other rural communities, Tonyville residents get their water from the Friant-Kern Canal and not from private wells or water systems. Scott Edwards, manager of Lindsay-Strathmore Irrigation District, said Tonyville residents are charged $252 per acre-foot, which is about 325,851 gallons or about what an average household would use in a year. The water is treated at a local facility to lower the level of nitrates and other harmful chemicals.

“We charge about half what it costs to run the water treatment facility we built for the community,” Edwards said. “And that doesn't include labor.”

Tonyville residents are billed on a bimonthly basis with an additional meter charge of $7.50 per month. This caused some confusion with residents at the meeting, who claimed they were paying more than $40 each month when actually that was the cost for two months.

“They pay the lowest rate for domestic use in the entire [irrigation] district,” Edwards said. “The other 800 homes, including my own, don't get treated water and have to use bottled water for drinking.”

Solutions

Ishida said the best solution for all rural communities is growth. More people means the cost of the operating the water systems can be spread out among more households and lower the bill.

“When the [county's] General Plan was adopted 30 years ago, all the growth was designed to go to the cities,” Ishida said. “Now we are looking at changing that to help out our smaller communities.”

Ishida said by working with cities to rearrange urban boundaries and rezoning areas to make them more attractive to people could help sustain water and sewer systems of smaller communities. He said he would hold another meeting with the communities of Three Rivers, Strathmore, Poplar and Woodville about water projects, rates and road improvements and problems sometime this year. After that meeting, Ishida said he hopes to meet with all of the unincorporated communities at a larger meeting probably in January. He said he is also asking county staff to compile a list of water rates for both incorporated cities and unincorporated communities to compare water rates.

“People should know that their rates are not out of line with other communities their size throughout the county,” Ishida said.

Ishida also announced a community cleanup date for the surrounding cities. This will take place in October and April. Large garbage bins will be provided in a central location within their communities to dispose of garbage or other throw away items that may not be needed. Volunteers are being asked to be designated packers of these large containers. Ishida said, “we have had great success in the past and will be contacting people at a later date to help out with this project.”

For more information, call Supervisor Allan Ishida at 733-6271.

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