Working Together to Provide Water Solutions

Working Together to Provide Water Solutions

Posted on September 29, 2022

This summer, our Community Development (CD) and Emergency Services (ES) teams collaborated extensively to provide clean, safe drinking water to the Valley’s most disadvantaged communities.   

On August 16th, the Del Rancho Y Mobile Villa mobile home park in southern Bakersfield reported that its well had run dry. The Division of Drinking Water immediately referred the owner of the park, Mark Ingram, to SHE. The CD and ES teams held an emergency call to organize a comprehensive response to the total loss of water supply. The over 200 residents in need of water were also heavily affected by the sweltering temperatures, reaching over 105 degrees. The community, made up of mid-century mobile homes, relies mainly on evaporative cooling for relief from the heat. Without water, residents were forced to retrieve buckets of water from the community’s swimming pool for cooling and hygiene.   

Fortunately, the community was located within California Water Service territory, and a water main was available for connection. Because the well had been showing signs of imminent failure, a service connection and meter had already been scheduled to be installed on the 17th. For that reason, the teams determined that hauled water and temporary tanks were not needed. The Emergency Services team delivered a two-week-long supply of bottled water to the residents that evening, including 3,168 gallons of water to 88 residences.   

The combined efforts of the Kern County Community Development team, the Division of Drinking Water, the Division of Financial Assistance, California Water Services, and the Del Rancho Y Mobile Villa owner also led to the funding and coordination of a backflow device installation. In addition, 550’ feet of temporary pipeline brought clean, safe, and reliable water to the mobile home community on August 19th. 

SHE’s Community Development team is working on an emergency application through SAFER funding to help pay for the emergency repairs and fund the consolidation of the Del Rancho Y Mobile Villa to California Water Service. They hope to complete the project by October 2022.  

Learn more about our Community Development and Emergency Services programs!