Help May Be Coming for Renters Without Water in Drought-Stricken Tulare County

A few weeks ago, I reported on the challenges for farmworker families who have run out of water in rural Tulare County.

I profiled Maria Medina, who has been cooking, bathing and washing dishes from little plastic water bottles for the last year and a half since her household well went dry.

While some of her neighbors who own their homes have been able to get a portable water tank installed outside their houses, renters like the Medinas haven't been eligible for the program.

Now, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors has given the green light for the county Office of Emergency Services (OES) to provide water for renters, too.

"It's a go-ahead, but with limitations," says Andrew Lockman, who heads up the Tulare County OES. Landlords still have to pay for the tanks and install them, but the county will deliver water to renters.

Lockman's staff had recommended against expanding the program because it is concerned that the county may not be able to find enough alternative sources of water to fill portable tanks for renters. They're getting 40-50 requests a week from homeowners whose wells have run dry.

"Should we be conservative here and have some resilience if we lose a water source if we have a dry winter? It’s something I’ve personally grappled with for months," Lockman told me.

The next step is for the Tulare County Board of Supervisors to consider how to crack down on landlords that still continue to rent properties without running water. They'll take that issue up on Nov. 3.