[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 5/16/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

May 16, 2007

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

Herndon water fix: $1 million; Private water company serving a small community wants Fresno to take over troubled system

Fresno Bee – 5/16/07

By Matt Leedy, staff writer

 

The Herndon Water Company has served a neglected neighborhood in northwest Fresno since 1945, but its days appear numbered and city leaders say about $1 million is needed to keep the water flowing.

 

Sandy water trickles out of faucets and showers for the 161 residents who live in the dusty corner of the city known as Herndon Town.

 

The private company's water pressure is so low that Fresno fire officials say Herndon Town's lone hydrant is useless. The nearest city hydrant is almost a half a mile away from the community's northern border.

 

To make matters worse, the water company's owner died Thursday. None of her family wants to run it. They want the city to take it over.

 

But the system's water pipes are so small -- less than an inch wide in many places -- that they could shatter if connected to a city system that has double the water pressure and uses 8-inch pipes.

 

Council Member Brian Calhoun, who represents the area, is asking his council colleagues and Mayor Alan Autry to pursue a $1 million federal grant to replace much of Herndon Town's water system so Fresno can take control of it.

 

Without the fix, Calhoun worries the water system could fail and jeopardize the health of the neighborhood.

 

However, there's no money -- either from grants or taxes -- for Herndon's water system in Autry's proposed spending plan for next fiscal year.

 

The Herndon community was annexed to Fresno in 1986 but has been largely isolated from city services.

 

Residential water customers pay $15 a month -- roughly the same as the $15.75 now charged to city water customers, although city rates are scheduled to increase in September.

 

In 2003, the city used $261,000 -- with most of the money from federal grants -- to put in some curbs and gutters. That year, Calhoun spent his entire $175,000 council infrastructure budget to pave the streets.

 

But there are still no sidewalks, and residents use septic tanks because their homes aren't connected to the city's sewer system. Weeds and dirt lots dot the area north of Herndon Avenue, east of Highway 99, south of the San Joaquin River and west of Riverside Golf Course.

 

"This is a neighborhood that has been left behind," Calhoun said.

 

If a home or business is set ablaze in Herndon Town, firefighters would spray it down using a 3,500-gallon water truck until hoses could be connected to the closest city hydrant, at Herndon and Weber avenues.

 

For this reason, fighting fires in Herndon Town is a cumbersome process, said Fire Chief Randy Bruegman.

 

Nearly half of Herndon Town's residents don't work because they're retired or disabled, according to city records. And those who do work earn an average of about $26,000 a year, which puts them below the federal poverty line. The community cannot afford to fix its water problems itself, Calhoun said.

 

Autry has $200,000 in his proposed 2007-08 budget to buy streetlights for Herndon Town, but there's no money to fix the water system. Calhoun wants the city to apply for a federal Community Development Block Grant so Herndon Town's water pipes can be replaced and new fire hydrants put in. Autry has earmarked the city's $7.8 million in such grants for other projects next year.

 

Council Members Larry Westerlund and Henry T. Perea said that if there isn't enough block grant money for Herndon Town, the city should seek other federal grants.

 

Calhoun said he'll lead another discussion on the issue during city budget hearings, which are scheduled to begin later this month.

 

"We've been trying to find answers, and answers come down to dollars," Calhoun said.

 

Charles and June Curtis started the Herndon Water Company and ran it while operating their towing business. Charles Curtis died in 2005 at age 79. June Curtis died Thursday. She also lived to be 79.

 

Their son, 50-year-old Jim Curtis, said he's reluctantly running the business now, but he wants the city to take over Herndon Town's water service soon.

 

Residents said they'd welcome a change.

 

Elogio Arredondo, 85, has lived in Herndon Town since 1986 and said pipes in the water system break a few times a year -- usually during the summer. It takes two to three hours to make repairs, Arredondo said, and during that time water service is shut off.

 

Even when the system is working at full strength, sand seeps into the water lines. Arredondo's 26-year-old daughter, Sylvia, said their shower heads are frequently clogged with sand and need to be cleaned out. The family drinks bottled water because they don't trust what comes out of their faucets.

 

Suzy Moreno, who lives near the boarded-up Las Palmas Grocery Store, said water barely trickles out of her shower and faucets when her neighbors have water running. #

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/47991.html

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