Partnering to Consolidate Central Valley Water Users

Grant funding from the State of California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) to the County of Tulare will enable local water provider Cal Water to connect two small, disadvantaged communities struggling with failing domestic wells with its Visalia system. The consolidation is intended to help ensure residents in West Goshen and on Harrison Road receive a reliable supply of safe, clean water for years to come.

While 80 customers that had been part of West Goshen Mutual Water Company were added to Cal Water’s system in 2014, another 50 residences in West Goshen had domestic wells and were not part of West Goshen Mutual and the original consolidation. Through DWR’s Small Community Drought Relief Program, the Community Water Center helped secure $3.45 million for Tulare County, so that Cal Water can extend its water mains and connect the remaining 50 customers, whose groundwater wells are failing and do not meet water quality standards.

Cal Water will also be able to extend its pipes and connect about 25 customers whose wells have gone dry along Harrison Road and Avenue 266, through a grant of approximately $535,000 that Self-Help Enterprises helped secure from DWR’s program for Tulare County. Officials for both projects hope to break ground in 2023 and complete construction by the end of 2024.

“We believe everyone should have reliable access to safe, clean water,” said Marty Kropelnicki, Cal Water President and CEO. “To that end, we are pleased to partner with Tulare County, our local community organizations, and the Department of Water Resources to support residents in the West Goshen and Harrison Road communities, particularly as climate change will continue to have more frequent and severe impacts on the region’s water supplies in the future.”