Porterville area getting some drought relief

EAST PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Much-needed water is now available in the South Valley. The Porterville area has been devastated by the drought with many wells running dry. Residents there were given more help this week.

This is a blessing for residents of East Porterville, where countless are living without water. The Tulare County Sheriff's Deputy Association has donated a 5,000 gallon tank for people to use whenever they need it.

"We know how hurting people were for water in this area," said Sgt. Mike Yandell, vice president of the Sheriff's Deputy Association.

Wells began drying up this summer. In all of Tulare County, 430 wells are dry; 320 of them are in Porterville. In some neighborhoods, every house on the street is without water.

"We're suffering a lot, you know? It's hard to tell a child that he can't bathe, and he can't shower, and that he has to use a bucket to bathe himself," said Beatrice Crespo, whose well is dry.

Tulare County's Office of Emergency Services is buying the water from the city of Porterville at a discounted rate. The tank will be monitored daily, and the county estimates they'll need to refill it every other day.

Ten 5-gallon buckets may seem like a lot, but Gabriel Tapia says this will only last his family three to four days.

"It makes me feel grateful that there are places like this where we can get water because we need water, we're in dire need of it," said Tapia, whose well has run dry.

Now, the water isn't to drink. Instead, it's meant for flushing toilets, washing clothes -- all things easily taken for granted, until your well runs dry.

"This is gonna be a blessing to this neighborhood," said Crespo.