County, State may take water from City of Porterville

City of Porterville Manager John Lollis sounded like a boxer when describing the ongoing situation when it comes to various agencies at the local and state level trying to work together to spread out a limited water supply.

“It is certainly a bob and weave,” Lollis said.

Lollis announced at Tuesday’s Porterville City Council meeting the County and State may exercise its right to take 3 million gallons of water a month at no charge from a city well as part of the arrangement the city, county and state reached to supply East Porterville with water after the 2015 drought. “We want to be a good partner,” Lollis said. “We always have been.”

Lollis noted the state still hasn’t fulfilled its portion of the agreement which called for the development of three wells for the City of Porterville as part of the East Porterville project. Lollis noted just two of three three wells have been completed and the second well, the Church

Well, just began operating this month. The third well, the Akin Well, still needs to be completed.

Lollis noted the city has worked and is working to provide water to surrounding areas, including Hope Elementary School, in which the city will provide for its need for drinking water.

He noted an audit on the city’s finances that was presented at the council meeting which gave the city the highest rating possible noted the city’s effective use of water bonds.

Lollis said the audit referred to the city as a “beacon in a sea of darkness in the Central Valley” when it came to the use of water bonds.

The city has issued tens of millions of dollars in Certificates of Participation to fund numerous water projects.

Among the projects that will be partially funded by the COPS is the Tertiary Water Treatment Plant for the recycling of water that’s being developed in conjunction with Tule River Tribe as part of the construction of the new Eagle Mountain Casino.

Lollis said the city has been at the forefront of dealing with water issues. “The city was doing recharge before recharge was cool,” he said.

He added the city has also addressed the challenge of reducing its groundwater use to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Lollis credited City Public Works Director Michael Knight for his work on water issues. “He is well-regarded in the water field,” Lollis said.

Lollis made his comments during a public hearing on the city switching from Phase IV in its watering restrictions to Phase III. After the public hearing the council approved the action to again switch from Phase IV to Phase III on June 1.

Under Phase IV residents are currently allowed to water just one day week with odd addresses allowed to water on Tuesdays and even addresses to water on Wednesdays. Beginning in June 1, Phase III will go into effect in which residents will be allowed to water two days a week as those with odd addresses will be allowed to water on Tuesdays and Saturdays and those with even addresses will be allowed to water on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The city will switch back to restrictions allowing residents to water just one day a week on October 1.