New treatment facility to help with water discoloration in Riverstone

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Riverstone residents shared water concerns with Action News.

Some say they've dealt with colored water issues since moving into the new development nearly three years ago.

"It's very poor quality water," said one resident. "The taste is not anything you want to drink, you don't want to cook in it."

Pictures shared with Action News show the discoloration some residents have faced throughout the new development.

"The color at times varies, sometimes it's like an orangey rust color, we have to put special chemicals in our toilets and things to keep the water from turning brown," said one resident.

People living in the community did not want to talk on camera, but say it's hard dealing with this type of issue.

"Very frustrating, especially when you pay so much for the water, and you also are paying for all of the chemicals, and the filters and things like that," said a Riverstone resident.

One neighbor says 4 weeks ago, they spent between $6500 - $8500 on a water filtration system because they needed a quick solution.

"Since then it's already made a world of difference, from showering, to clean and even drinking the tap water, you can just taste the difference," said someone living in the Riverstone development.

Madera county supervisor Jordan Wamhoff says he recently held a town hall with the root creek water district after he learned about the issue.

"The reason why, there's discolored water is because there are minerals in the water, iron and manganese, and when those mix with chlorine, and they sit sometimes sometimes the water does and new developments, because there's not a lot of circulation in certain areas, it can actually discolor the water," said Madera County Supervisor, Jordan Wamhoff.

Root Creek Water district general manager, Julia Stornetta, says they are aware of the problem and can offer help.

"We're willing to come into their home if the homeowner will allow us to do so, we look at the water, and then we were able to go to the nearest hydrant and flush water," said Stornetta.

For a long term solution, she says they are working on a new water treatment facility.

"We're building a $25 million project, which we broke ground on six months ago it will be completed at end of 2025," said Stornetta.

There are about 1900 homes in the Riverstone area. Of those - the water district says they've only received 41 water complaints.

But with more construction in the works - and plans to have 6500 homes, supervisor Wamhoff says this should improve.

"What solves that is, towards the end of those developments, when new homes come online, they flush the water out of the hydrants, and it circulates that water more and they don't have any more discolored water, but as more homes come online, it's not going to be an issue," said Wamhoff.

Residents also shared concerns about the water price - but the water district officials say rates are set through a protest election and were determined back in 2022 and won't change until after 2026.

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