Community in the South Valley getting help after several drought-related emergencies

HARDWICK, Calif. (KFSN) -- A small South Valley community is getting help from the state, after dealing with several drought-related emergencies.

Hardwick is a small community just south of Laton. They've been without a working well since March when it dried up.

"Sometimes that's what it feels like that we've been forgotten and shut down," said resident Randy Herman. His family is one of the dozens suffering because of the drought. "It's really bad. we have no water. Our well went completely dry and we're not the only ones affected by this," he said.

A 4,000-gallon tank is filled up daily. And it's the only relief for about eighteen homes in the community. Some families have their own private wells but even some of those have gone dry. The shared tank is limited to just showers and toilet use, so outside of drinking bottled water, families are restricted from watering or washing much of anything.

"If that tank runs out, which it does, then we are completely out of water until they bring in another truck," said Herman.

But the lack of water is just one problem on their list of issues. In 2013, unhealthy levels of naturally occurring uranium forced residents to stop drinking the water. There's been arsenic detected too, like many communities in Kings County.

Tricia Wathen with the State Water Resource Control Board says they're working with the county to help. "The system received bottled water for years because of the uranium violation. And then when they ran out of water, they received emergency funding to haul in water," said Wathen.

Leaders estimate it'll take about two to three weeks for the new well to be up and running. Until then, the community will continue to have to rely on the portable tank for bathing water and bottled H2O for drinking water.