New Well Restores Water in Home

New Well Restores Water in Home

Posted on April 7, 2015

The drought and water scarcity has impacted many San Joaquin Valley families who rely on ground water for their daily lives. Over 1,000 homes in the Valley have private water wells that are now dry and this number continues to rise with another dry year.

In the small town of Kingsburg in Fresno County, dozens of wells have been left without water. Abelardo De Leon Garcia, who has resided in his Kingsburg home for 33 years, saw his 84 foot well go dry in July 2014.

Abelardo De Leon Garcia stands with his neighbor Roberta Carpenter in front of his dry water tank.

“I’ve lived in my home for over 30 years and never worried about my well running out of water, “ said Mr. De Leon Garcia. “This is the home that I worked hard to buy – it’s where I raised my children and it holds the memories of my late wife. I was scared to think that I would have to move because I no longer had water.”

While Mr. De Leon Garcia’s family looked for assistance, a generous next door neighbor, Roberta Carpenter, provided him with water by hooking up a hose to his home plumbing. Worried that his neighbor’s well would also run dry, Mr. De Leon Garcia, a senior citizen who lives on a fixed income, purchased bottled water to drink and cook, used disposable plates, and showered at his daughter’s house. With the cost of drilling a new well running above $20,000, residents with dry wells are forced to take drastic measures, including hauling buckets of water long distances, to meet their basic water needs.

To assist affected families, Self-Help Enterprises and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) partnered to identify funding sources for qualified homeowners in need of construction, refurbishment or servicing of an individual household water well system. Mr. De Leon Garcia qualified to receive a $14,500 zero-interest deferred payment loan from the USDA Housing Preservation Grant as well as a $7,500 USDA Rural Development grant to cover the cost of drilling a new well.

On March 9, 2015, Mr. De Leon Garcia watched excitedly as a new 250-foot well was drilled at his residence. After having his water source suddenly gone, Mr. De Leon Garcia feels fortunate to have received assistance that allows him to stay in his home and make more lasting family memories.

For information about Self-Help Enterprises’ water well loan program and other drought relief resources, visit our Drought Response page.