Giving Compass' Take:
- Melissa Montalvo highlights the plight of Teviston, California, a rural town without running water amidst triple-digit temperatures.
- Why do droughts disproportionately impact Latino communities in the San Joaquin Valley? How can drinking water and wastewater infrastructure be equitably improved?
- Read more about the causes of America’s water crisis.
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This is how California’s water crisis is going these days: The only functioning well in the rural community of Teviston broke in early June, leaving more than 700 residents without running water as temperatures in the Central Valley soared to triple-digits in a drought.
“It’s day to day” for the people of Teviston, said Frank Galaviz, a board member of the Teviston Community Services District, in an interview with The Fresno Bee.
Teviston residents are relying on limited bottled water for necessities such as staying hydrated, cooking, bathing and flushing toilets. Some residents, like Galaviz, are traveling to neighboring towns to stay with family or friends to shower and wash clothes.
Galaviz shared news of the well’s breakdown during a virtual conference on drought organized by state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from Sanger. The district found sand in the pump, which led to the breakdown.
In response to the well’s failure, the district is delivering cases of bottled water and five-gallon jugs to its residents. Tanker trucks haul water from Porterville, 23 miles away, to fill Teviston’s two water storage tanks.
“It’s just barely enough, and in some cases, not enough,” said Galaviz. “Some families are larger than others.”
Teviston is an unincorporated community in Tulare County that lies off Highway 99, between Pixley and Earlimart. The community’s first residents were primarily Black migrants from the Cotton Belt and Dust Belt states. Today, the majority of its residents are Latino farmworkers.
It may take weeks to get running water back in Teviston households, said Galaviz, who is waiting on the pieces needed to repair the pump.
But fixing the pump may not fix the problem. Galaviz said he fears the well may have dried up.
Residents experienced similar shortages when the community’s only well collapsed in November 2017. Like many rural communities in the Central Valley, Teviston did not have a working back-up well.
Read the full article about California’s water crisis by Melissa Montalvo at The Counter.