Residents adapting to life without water in drought
East Porterville residents find ways to adjust
Earlier this year, standing in a bare, grassy mountain meadow that would usually be covered with snow, Gov. Jerry Brown called the conditions currently affecting California “the new normal.”
In East Porterville, a place some call the epicenter of the state’s four-year drought, residents have done the best they can to take the changes in stride.
Edmond Chavez, whose well went dry last summer, said he draws from his experience with the United States Navy to try to better conserve the precious water from the large, black 2,500-gallon tank in his front yard.
“I just take a Navy shower,” he said. “That means real fast.”
Edmond and his wife, Evangeline, have been retired for well over a decade and have lived at their current home in East Porterville off East River Avenue for 20 years.
They said it didn’t take them long to change their habits after they lost their well water.
“Before [the black tank] we had to buy water for this white plastic tank the city gave us,” Edmond said.
The white tank, by comparison, only holds 300 gallons.
“You have to be careful,” Evangeline said. “People should watch how much water they use. We used to waste so much just washing dishes and leaving the faucet running.”
The hardest part about her well going dry, she said, was watching her plants die. “The fruit trees died first; then the bushes,”
she said. “We had this nice green lawn. It was terrible watching that go. We got so used to it.”
Now, the Chavezes hardly water any plants in their yard. Evangeline even recently purchased plastic flowers to replace the ones that died.
“We try to use as little water as possible,” Edmond said.
Vickie Yorba, 95, has lived in the area since age 14. A neighbor of the Chavez’s, she has lived in the same house in East Porterville for the past 66 years.
She lost her well last February.
“I wasn’t [completely without water] for very long but long enough to make me sick,” she said. “I lost all my trees and roses.”
Yorba said she missed being able to make jelly and jams from the plum, apricot, navel and lemon trees that used to line her back yard.
“I miss my water everyday,” she said. “My flowers are mostly gone. I can only keep a few alive; the rest are succulents.”
Yorba said she is getting better at conserving the water she now has access to via a black tank like her neighbors’, but is still struggling to save water during the short showers she takes every other day.
“Every little drop counts,” she said.
When local water warrior Donna Johnson delivered her tank, Yorba began using her used dishwater to water the few flowers she managed to keep alive.
Now, she can’t even wash her dishes following concerns about contaminants in some of the tanks making the elderly and children sick.
Johnson brought her paper plates until more research about the tank’s safety can be conducted.
Despite the potential dangers, Yorba remains optimistic. “At least I can take a shower every other day,” she said.
Yorba said she couldn’t imagine moving, regardless of the challenges, a sentiment echoed by the Chavezes.
“Why would we,” asked Evangeline, pointing to her brown backyard dotted with plastic plants. “It doesn’t get much worse than this.”
Edmond, originally from New Mexico, said he was finding the dry climate to his liking.
“Now that it’s like a desert around here, I think I’m finally getting used to the place,” he said.
Evangeline, a Santa Monica native, said she didn’t know if she’d ever get used to California’s “new normal.”
There have been 1,878 domestic well failures reported as of Oct. 6, according to Tulare County Emergency Services.
The agency listed current active well failures at 1,373, interim solutions at 419, and resolved failures at 86.
As of Oct. 2, the Bottled Drinking Water Program has approved 1,298 qualified households.
Tulare County’s Health and Human Services Agency has identified 673 clientele that have been affected by the drought, with 15 applications pending approval.
At the time of writing, Tulare County’s Environmental Health agency has approved over 4,229 drilling permits for wells since Jan. 1, 2014.
The Workforce Investment Board reported that 308 employees have been laid off or have had their work hours reduced due to the drought.
The 2-1-1 drought assistance hotline, through the United Way of Tulare County, has received 2,245 calls requesting referrals for assistance.
As of Oct. 2, Foodlink has distributed 183,003 drought-related food relief packages.