Most wells in East Porterville have run dry

EAST PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Valley community is under a water emergency now that most of the wells residents use have run dry.

Tanks needs to be refilled almost daily. All day Friday, the Tulare County Office of Emergency Services, along with the Red Cross, fire department and sheriff's office, were out distributing gallons of bottled drinking water to people.

County officials say East Porterville has become a hot spot as of late, with more people calling in that their wells have run dry. Nearly every property there has its own individual well, with most of the water coming from the nearby Tule River. That river is completely dry.

Some there have been without water for months.

"They've never had outages like this," said Andrew Lockman with the Tulare County Office of Emergency Services. "With those wells it's always been sufficient just because the water table has always been so high in this area."

"It's just hectic sometimes because I've got five kids. I have to take them to my cousin's, mom's, relative's houses to clean, and on top of that I have to pay for getting water, pay for the gallons of water and stuff like that," said East Porterville resident Justin Silvas.

More than 182 homes in East Porterville have wells that have gone dry but county officials believe there could be more.