fbpx
published on February 17, 2017 - 3:18 PM
Written by

East Porterville residents are urged to attend an informational meeting next week to learn how they can avoid a $10,000 cost to connect to City of Porterville water distribution lines.


The state Department of Water Resources, along with other state agencies and local nonprofits, will be on hand Feb. 22 to explain the East Porterville Water Supply Project and answer questions.

The meeting will be held from 6-8:30 p.m. in the Granite Hills High School Cafeteria at 1701 E. Putnam Ave. in Porterville. Spanish interpreting services will be available.

About 800 East Porterville homes that had wells go dry during the state’s five-year drought are eligible for the project, estimated to cost about $7 million and funded by the state.

Attendees will learn about the three-step process to participate in the project, which involves signing a consent form, a contract called an extraterritorial service agreement and then opening a utility account with the City of Porterville. Officials say the paperwork takes about three weeks, though the time it takes to connect to the system depends on the schedule of laying new distribution lines and completing additional infrastructure.

The project’s first connection to an East Porterville home with existing water lines was made on Aug. 19, 2016.

About 270 homes have been connected so far as part of phase 1 of the project. Another 800 homes are eligible to be connected during phase 2. The deadline to complete the three-step process for phase 2 is March 31, with connections scheduled to begin in June.

Residents of East Porterville, an unincorporated area in Tulare County, have been relying on deliveries of bottled water and non-potable water trucked in to large temporary water tanks installed on their properties, at a monthly cost to the state of more than $650,000.

For more information, visit http://water.ca.gov/waterconditions/porterville.cfm


e-Newsletter Signup

Our Weekly Poll

Do you think Valley Children's Hospital will lose financial support due to CEO pay revelations?
101 votes

Central Valley Biz Blogs

. . .