More than 700 residents of a town in California have reportedly been left without running water in the middle of a heat wave.
According to the The Fresno Bee, the only functioning well in Teviston, a rural community in California, broke earlier this month, which has left "over 700 residents without running water" while "temperatures in the central San Joaquin Valley have soared to triple-digit heat." Since then, residents have reportedly been relying on bottled water, which the district has been delivering cases of, or on with friends or family in other towns nearby.
The report describes how sand being found in the pump led to the well's breakdown. But Teviston Community Services District board member Frank Galaviz told the Fresno Bee that getting running water back to households could take "weeks," as pieces to repair the pump are still needed — and Galaviz added he's fearful the well might have dried up. This, the report notes, comes after residents were left without water when a well collapsed in 2017.
"In the last drought, we learned that local and state drought responses were not coordinated. Families in distress didn't know who to call, and the state was scrambling to provide support," Community Water Center policy advocate Erick Orellana told The Bee. "We don't want to see emergencies continue to happen, so we're urging the state to be better prepared for drought this time." Read more at The Fresno Bee.