Editorial: Greedy Jones Corner’s kindness dries up

When times are tough, Valley residents often go the extra mile to help their neighbors and those who are less fortunate.

They donate to food banks. They help people build homes through efforts such as Habitat for Humanity. They donate business clothes so that someone will be well dressed for a job interview. They clean up parks to spare City Hall the expense. They even donate bottled water to residents whose wells have gone dry.

This tradition of pulling together, however, stands in stark contrast to the ugly actions of some residents in the Tulare County community of Jones Corner.

As reported by The Bee’s Lewis Griswold, folks there have been harassing water truck haulers who hook up to a well owned by the city of Porterville and then take the water to drought-stricken East Porterville.

Cars have blocked access to the well, people have followed the tankers and one driver reported that a rock was thrown at his truck window, according to Andrew Lockman, director of the Tulare County Office of Emergency Services.

In addition, 130 Jones Corner residents signed a petition opposing “any water being taken from the Jones Corner well” and delivered the petition to the Porterville City Council in June.

It is our hope that Griswold’s story will ease fears in Jones Corner that the well they rely on could run dry because the water now is being shared with East Porterville residents.

According to Lockman, there is ample water to serve both communities. He says the well’s water supply is 200 feet to 300 feet deep and that the water level has fallen about 5 feet this summer.

“They are far away from having a problem,” Lockman said. “It’s an irrational fear, given all the data.”

Moreover, East Porterville residents are using less water than Tulare County officials expected when they made the agreement to use the well.

The contract allows haulers to draw as much as 500,000 gallons a month from the well. But in May and June combined, only 250,000 gallons was drawn, Lockman said.

Perhaps the ugliness of the situation could have been avoided if Tulare County officials simply had passed out fliers in Jones Corner explaining why the tankers were hooking up to the well and where they were taking the water.

Said Lockman, “A better job could have been done upfront.”

In the absence of facts, rumor and speculation frequently gain a foothold. This appears to be what happened in Jones Corner.

Unfortunately some residents chose to fan the rumors instead of seeking the truth. Worse, they adopted an us-first mentality instead of recognizing that the people in East Porterville need water, too.

Yes, California’s ongoing drought is a problem. Yes, most all of us are having to make sacrifices. And, yes, the drought is shining a bright light on what it takes to be “a good neighbor.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Editorial: Greedy Jones Corner’s kindness dries up."