Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Springville, CA

This story was originally published by SJV Water.

Since the devastating floods of March 10, a community of about 1,000 people has been paying, on average, $150 a month for undrinkable water that is only available intermittently.

So far, no government agencies have stepped up to take control of the situation, or give clear answers to residents.

Aside from wanting water, residents want to know – who’s in charge here?

The small, upscale enclave of Springville, tucked into the foothills of Tulare County, has endured nearly five months of no water, or intermittent water, since flooding in March wiped out community wells. Residents’ frustration is mounting as the Del Oro Water Company has charged regular water rates for, at best, irregular service during those months.

Residents are calling the situation unjust and abusive and are wondering how Del Oro, a private for-profit water company, can continue charging them for water they can’t drink and often can’t access.

On March 10, floods destroyed six community wells operated by Del Oro, knocking out water service completely at first, according to a news release from Del Oro. Three of those wells have been abandoned and three are expected to come back online in the coming weeks.

On March 13, Del Oro started sending bottled water to its Springville customers. And on March 23, it began providing irrigation water to customers which can be used to wash clothes and shower but isn’t safe to drink.

Del Oro has seven remaining wells in the area which were able to meet demand until June when usage went up. Since then, some residents have consistently lost access to water just about every day.

The company has blamed the intermittent lack of water on excessive use by customers. Staff have instituted a Stage 2 water conservation order aiming for a 20% overall reduction in water usage, a spokesperson told SJV Water via email.

Residents refute that saying it’s impossible to overuse what they don’t have as water has been completely shut off many evenings, according to Raffaella Woods, a Springville resident and Del Oro customer.

She said residents were understanding in the first weeks after the floods.

But when they started getting full water bills, many felt that was unfair, she said.

Customers pay a base rate of about $150 per month regardless of water usage. About $78 of that amount goes toward paying back a $9 million state loan for a water treatment plant. That repayment amount will be lowered to about $45 a month once the project is completed, wrote the spokesperson via email.

The treatment project was started in 2021 and is expected to be completed in November, according to a Del Oro spokesperson.

“The whole thing, it’s a huge shock,” said Woods. “The whole of Tulare County is flooding, we’re underwater, the river is raging and yet we have no water.”

More than 150 residents voiced their frustrations during a July 28 town hall meeting with several Del Oro representatives present. The company representatives said they’ve been trying to upgrade the Springville system over the last few years but have run into state red tape.

Woods and other residents have been trying to figure out which government agency they can appeal to about Del Oro’s service. But answers about government responsibility have not been clear, according to residents.

“Ultimately, accountability is the final end goal,” said Korey Wells, secretary for Springville’s Chamber of Commerce board.

Wells isn’t a Del Oro customer but he is helping the community through this process.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulates private water companies such as Del Oro. Woods said she has gone back and forth with staff at the CPUC trying to get answers about why Del Oro is allowed to charge residents for water service for the past few months.

Answers have been scarce. Woods said a complaint against Del Oro was sent to the CPUC. But a CPUC spokesperson said staff have not seen a formal complaint.

When asked what responsibilities the CPUC has over private water companies, a spokesperson initially emailed SJV Water a link to the general CPUC website .

It took SJV Water almost two weeks to get a more clear definition of government roles in the Springville situation.

A spokesperson for the CPUC wrote in an email that the agency oversees construction, design, operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems. It also regulates water utility rates and service by approving, denying, or modifying water utility requests, wrote the spokesperson.

In response to why Del Oro is allowed to charge full rates when there is little access to water, the spokesperson wrote, “while water access may have been hindered due to the flooding, Del Oro and its California Pines and River Island water systems were still operational. During this time the utility was working on providing alternate sources of water to customers, restoring water service and communicating updates to customers and regulatory agencies.”

The agency’s response was less than satisfactory for residents.

“The PUC should have been involved in this way, way sooner,” said Wells. “And the fact that they haven’t been is, I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s disappointing.”

The CPUC said the state Water Resources Control Board is involved in the issue, but did not elaborate further.

The water board’s Division of Drinking Water is working with Del Oro on conservation notices and other options to conserve water, wrote Adam Forbes, district engineer for Division of Drinking Water, in an email. But the division has no control over water rates, that’s all between Del Oro and the CPUC, he added.

As for Tulare County, it has no responsibility over the system, said Denise England, grants and resources manager for the county. All responsibility falls on the water board and the CPUC, she said. A county supervisor has collected bottled water donations for Springville residents, but the county has no jurisdictional obligation there, England said.

“As far as the solution for the actual water company, that’s really between the state and the water company,” she said. “There’s not really a role for the county to play there.”

The lack of clear oversight has generated extreme frustration for residents.

On Friday, state senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) hosted a water distribution event in Springville to give bottled water to residents. Grove has called on the state to allow for nonprofit Self-Help Enterprises to provide temporary water tanks, plumbing to tie into Springville’s service lines and about three million gallons of hauled water, according to a press release.

The state has provided grant funds for Self-Help to work with disadvantaged communities whose wells went dry during the drought.

For Springville residents, the entire saga has been months of stress.

Faith Gillis, a mother of three children ranging in age from one and a half to six years old, is concerned about her family’s safety when it comes to the water. While her home has only experienced a slight drop in water pressure, watching her neighbors lose water access completely has been upsetting for her.

“If they’re okay and comfortable doing this to our neighbors, we’re next,” said Gillis.

On top of the ongoing issues, Del Oro is scheduled to raise its Springville customers’ rates by $20 a month.

“We can’t afford it. Our water bill can easily get out of hand in a blink of an eye,” said Gillis. “We’re already paying these ungodly amounts.”

SJV Water is a nonprofit, independent online news publication covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. Lois Henry is the CEO/Editor of SJV Water. She can be reached at lois.henry@sjvwater.org. The website is sjvwater.org.

Parts of Springville, a small town in Tulare County, were placed under an evacuation order at noon, March 10, as “life-threatening” floods devastated the region, officials said. The Hanford office of the National Weather Service issued multiple flood advisories in the Central California area while Twitter users shared photos and videos of water inundating roadways and homes.

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A weather service warning that remains in effect until 5:45 p.m. described the flood threat level as “catastrophic” and ordered residents to immediately move to higher ground. More emergency information about current evacuation orders can be found on Tulare County’s Evacuation Orders & Warnings website.

Multiple users on Twitter shared photos and videos showing how the excessive rainfall has devastated the region. One cow pasture looks like a raging river, while homes and streets are flooded by dark, muddy water.

https://twitter.com/Geekflanka/status/1634247741739094016

https://twitter.com/Jordan_144/status/1634286897668452352

https://twitter.com/NWSHanford/status/1634325744661975042

JP Kalb, a meteorologist with the Hanford weather service office, called it a rare event.

“Especially with how much rain we're getting right now on top of the snow,” he told SFGATE, explaining that 2 to 4 inches of snow melted in the Sierra foothills. The Hanford weather service office wrote that the region received between 1.5 and 3 inches of rain as of Friday afternoon, and warned that this snowmelt will likely contribute to ongoing flash floods.

According to its website, Springville is a rural town known for its cattle ranches and farms, and hosts rodeos every year in honor of its western heritage.

The Tulare County sheriff's department did not immediately respond to SFGATE's request for comment.

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Drone video captures California river flooding homes during atmospheric river

Warm, torrential rains caused significant snowmelt in Springville, California. Drone video captured a river flooding homes in Tulare County which led to evacuations. Floodwaters ripped one home off its foundation. (Credit: Brandon Clement / LSM)

SPRINGVILLE, Calif. – An unfolding flood threat in the Golden State caused several rivers to rapidly rise Friday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and destroying homes.

The combination of previous snowfall events and heavy rainfall from the most recent atmospheric river caused flash flooding that forced residents in communities such as Ponderosa and Springville to leave quickly.

The National Weather Service issued a rare Flash Flood Emergency and warned of catastrophic water level rises in Tulare County, California.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Drone video taken by a storm chaser showed dozens of houses with water that made its way inside and at least one property that partially collapsed due to the force of the rising water.

Around the state, nearly 10,000 people were under evacuation notices as river and creek levels continued to rise into the evening.

DEADLY CALIFORNIA ATMOSPHERIC RIVER TRIGGERS FLOOD EMERGENCY

(FOX Weather)

California emergency management attributed at least two deaths to the latest round of hazardous weather and said a State of Emergency was issued for more than half the state’s counties.

The California National Guard deployed dozens of crews for the threat of additional flooding and river rises through at least the next week.

"This moisture is tapped from the tropics, the subtropics, and so it's just naturally warmer. And that's important because some of these snow levels with recent systems, we saw snow at about a thousand feet, so some people saw graupel along the beach. But the snow level is going to be more than perhaps 8,000 feet through the Sierra. And that's significant. More than just the foothills are going to see rain," said FOX Weather meteorologist Stephen Morgan.

WHAT IS AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER?

More than 20 million Californians are under flood alerts, which will likely be extended into the foreseeable future due to additional forecast rainfall for over the weekend and early next week.

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) — Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux issued evacuation, warnings, and shelter-in-place orders for multiple areas across the county on Friday.

Evacuation Order

Teviston due to the increase of the river flow.

Parts of Cutler due to a levee break in the area of Road 124, south of Ave. 408.

Parts of Cutler now under evacuation orders after a levee break (Credit: Rene Ortega)

Parts of Exeter, due to Yokohl Creek overflowing its banks.

Three Rivers Area

FULL STORY: Springville's current conditions.

Springville Area

Shelter-in-Place Order: Springville and Pine Flat

Kern River

Evacuation Warnings

Ponderosa

Kings River

Porterville

An Evacuation Order has also been issued for the Springville area along the south bank of the Tule River. (Courtesy: Brian Duke)

Due to the increased river flow, Sheriff Boudreaux urges people to stay clear of the roadways.

Highway 190 will be closed east of Pleasant Oaks Drive on Highway 190.

Follow these general safety tips around flooded or snowed-in areas:

For updates during major events, including storms and flooding, visit the Tulare County Emergencies website at TulareCounty.ca.gov/Emergencies

Register for AlertTC at www.alerttc.com

Sandbags are available at many locations throughout Tulare County.

[RELATED] Water rescue at Wonder Valley caught on camera

Friday Weather Alerts

Tulare County Temporary Evacuation Points

Tulare County has established Temporary Evacuation Points (TEP) for those in need of resources and information regarding the recent storms. TEPs are safe staging areas for people to congregate that may be (or have been) displaced due to an emergency or disaster. The following TEPs are open and available for Tulare County residents:

Dinuba Memorial Hall

249 S. Alta Ave. in DinubaHours of Operation: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Porterville College Gym

100 E. College Ave. in PortervilleHours of Operation: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Exeter Veterans Memorial Building

324 N. Kaweah Ave.

Hours: Open 24 hours a day

Southern California Edison adds 225 megawatts of storage to Springville as one of their three projects to increase storage by 535MW to help meet carbon neutrality

SPRINGVILLE – Looking to speed up an emergency project by this coming summer, Southern California Edison has announced it will build a multi-million-dollar battery storage complex at the Springville substation in Tulare County.

The project is one of three that SCE will build over the next nine months at a cost of $1.22 billion. They add up to 535 megawatts (MW) of storage with the Springville project being 225MW, nearly half the total. That would put the value of the local project at around $500 million.

The Springville project will download power to the battery storage modules from their Big Creek hydro facilities in the Sierra when demand is low and release it to the grid when power demand is high in the SCE service area. SCE will use lithium-ion batteries with 4-hour dispatch capability. Power is needed, California energy officials say, to meet potential summer demand this coming year.

The state wants to add an additional 5000MW to the power supply to be ready for more extreme weather events that have resulted in power shutdowns.

On July 30, 2021, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in California due to the increasing effects of climate change and their impact on the state’s electric system. The Emergency Proclamation states that “it is necessary to take immediate action to reduce the strain on the energy infrastructure, increase energy capacity, and make energy supply more resilient this year to protect the health and safety of Californians.”

Additionally, the Emergency Proclamation notes that “a second summer of extreme drought, heat, and fire in 2022 would pose an even more grave threat to California’s energy supply, unless additional actions to increase California’s energy infrastructure and capacity begin now.”

Reports say that Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, says his team will build the roughly 535MW of storage by mid-summer and is also working on securing more than 230MW of capacity from third parties. SCE, which serves more than 15 million people across Southern, Central and Coastal California, has contracted with Ameresco and filed papers with the CPUC outlining plans to build the capacity at its Springville (225 MW), Hinson (200 MW) and Etiwanda (112 MW) substations. These latter two stations are in southern California.

SCE will use land at its existing substations to quickly develop, permit and interconnect the battery storage resources. The battery energy storage systems are expected to be online by August 2022.

SCE will substantially increase the amount of energy storage capacity it has available to mitigate the risk of potential customer outages if the West experiences a summer of extreme heat. The additional 535 MWs of SCE-owned storage complement the long-term capacity contracts completed last year — 1,355 MWs of utility-scale battery storage and 5MWs of demand response that uses energy from customer-owned energy storage. It will bring SCE’s total amount of installed and procured storage capacity to about 2,810MWs.

“The steps we are taking today will benefit our customers in many ways. They will make the grid more resilient to the effects of extreme weather and will help us continue our progress toward the clean energy future, which is essential to combating climate change,” Kevin Payne, president and CEO of SCE said. “Electric utilities like SCE have a critical role in integrating renewable energy into the grid. The clean energy then powers clean transportation and buildings, and in doing so, creates clean energy jobs that benefit Southern Californians economically and environmentally.”

By locating the battery storage at its substations, SCE will be able to meet electricity demands more effectively in the San Joaquin Valley, Rancho Cucamonga and nearby communities as well as the greater Long Beach area, including the Port of Long Beach, while enhancing overall grid reliability. The batteries can be charged when electricity demand is lower and store nearly 2,150 megawatt-hours. They will also decrease the grid’s dependence on natural gas power plants as California transitions to a clean energy future.

As laid out in Pathway 2045, SCE’s report that examines the changes that need to take place to reach carbon neutrality by 2045, SCE estimates the state needs to add 30 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale storage to the grid and 10GW of storage from distributed energy resources to meet the state’s clean energy and carbon neutrality goals. These new battery energy storage systems will help California meet these goals and also help Edison International, SCE’s parent company, meet its 2045 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions commitment.

About

John Lindt is the publisher of Sierra2theSea.net, an online newspaper covering California’s Central Valley and Central Coast.