Water returns to Central Valley town after well breaks down. But more money is needed
After over a month of transporting water from nearby towns and delivering bottled water to residents, the rural Tulare County community of Teviston had running water again Monday.
Teviston’s only well broke down in early June, leaving hundreds of residents without running water.
Teviston Community Services District board member, Frank Galaviz, said that the well is “back online” in an interview on Monday with The Bee. “We’re in good shape now. We’re back to normal,” said Galaviz. The well pump was repaired on Friday.
In total, Teviston residents went without running water for two to three weeks, said board President Martin Correa.
There was a partial return of running water delivered from a temporary pump that delivered water to residents’ homes. The community had 40,000 gallons stored in storage tanks to run through the temporary pump. This water was trucked in daily from Fresno and Porterville, according to Teviston officials. Still, the district encouraged residents to conserve water during this time.
What caused Teviston’s well pump to break down?
Jessi Snyder is a program director for Self-Help Enterprises, a community outreach organization that supports small water districts with emergency response. Snyder said that, based on video footage and examination of the well equipment, the failure was caused by a mechanical breakdown.
“A couple of the pump bowls came off the column pipe and fell to the bottom of the well; there was also a lot of encrustation on the screens that were accelerating and concentrating the flow of water and bringing in a lot of sand, which got into the pump,” Snyder said in an email statement to The Bee.
Some residents said they fear the water district isn’t properly managed and wondered if the pump’s breakdown was an avoidable maintenance issue. But officials say that the well and its motor were regularly monitored.
Galaviz said he thinks the cause of the breakdown was environmental. “Accidents happen,” said Galaviz. “When it happens, people start pointing the finger at everybody. But the bottom line, I truly believe, is climate change and the drought.”
The newly installed submersible pump has a shorter lifespan of 10-15 years than a standard well pump, which can last 20 years or more, said Correa. However, the technicians said that the submersible pump should be less damaging to the well casing.
California State Water Board funding on the horizon — but when?
In the meantime, Teviston officials are applying for funding from the State Water Resources Control Board to move forward on the construction of a new well, Well 4, which “will provide the redundancy the system so desperately needs.” said Snyder.
Well 4 construction was initially planned for sometime between 2022 or 2023, said Galaviz. But given the state of emergency that the community experienced, he said they hoped that the funding would be expedited.
“It’s kind of hanging over our head right now,” he said. “The thing is that we’re not the only ones.”
Currently, there are about 620 public water systems and 80,000 domestic wells at risk of failing to provide a sufficient amount of drinking water that meets basic health standards, according to the State Water Board’s drinking water needs assessment that was released in April. According to the State Water Board, about 45 systems are added to the list of failing water systems every year.
“The drought is very concerning because, not just the Teviston community,” said Correa, “but many communities are starting to feel the impact now with the wells drying up or collapsing.”
Melissa Montalvo is a reporter with The Fresno Bee and a Report for America corps member. This article is part of The California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequity and economic survival in California.
This story was originally published July 19, 2021 at 3:20 PM.
