Community wells have tested for a high level of an ag chemical contaminant since 2018

PIXLEY – Pixley residents have had questionable water to drink for the last four years but will soon have access to free water from a vending machine. 

The Pixley Public Utility District recently published a public notice that says they will offer free drinking water at water fill stations in town. The notice says the plan “will consist of the installation of two water vending machines and shade cover for the machines, which will be attached to the Pixley Public Utility District building. This will provide the community of Pixley with clean drinking water at no cost due to the community’s issue with contaminated water.”

District engineer Mike Taylor said the district has not settled on a location for the machines and no timetable has been set for the project until after a contract to construct vending machines is awarded next month. 

Taylor said Pixley’s water is contaminated with an ag chemical called 1,2,3-Trichloropropane , more commonly called TCP, or 1,2,3-TCP. The man-made chemical was used as a cleaning and degreasing solvent associated with some pesticide products used in the Central Valley from the 1940s through the 1980s. The chemical is a carcinogen known to cause cancer in laboratory animals. 

Taylor said TCP is common in agriculture communities across the state since the State Water Board began testing for TCP in 2018. There are 569 communities water systems in California, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley, with TCP levels over the maximum contaminant level of 0.005 micrograms per liter (ug/L), according to the State Water Resources Control Board. Since the state adopted regulations for TCP, Pixley’s Wells 3 and 5 have tested at 0.012 ug/L, more than double the maximum contaminant level safe for people to drink, and Well 4 at 0.026 ug/L, more than five times the maximum contaminant level.

The water fill stations are funded by the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP). Established in 2003, ILRP initially helped prevent agricultural runoff from impairing surface waters, but in 2012, groundwater regulations were added to the program. Under the program, coalitions of growers submit plans to control chemical runoff from commercial irrigated lands into groundwater. These groups also pay fees to fund short term solutions, such as clean water kiosks, to water issues caused by chemicals associated with past agricultural practices until a permanent solution can be found in each community. 

Denise England, water grants and resources manager for Tulare County’s Resource Management Agency, said Terra Bella was among the first in the county to install a water kiosk for its residents to have access to free, clean potable water. In fact, people liked the kiosk so much, they asked to keep them open even after Terra Bella Irrigation District installed a treatment plant to filter out contaminants in its groundwater.

“It became a trusted source of water for them and they asked the kiosk be reopened after they were shut down,” England said. 

Around the time Terra Bella introduced their water kiosks, others began popping up around the county. One was installed on the edge of the city of Dinuba for easy access by surrounding rural communities and another just outside of Farmersville near the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District for rural communities. 

“They are becoming pretty commonplace now,” England said. 

Dems/GOP split on bullet train Construction of high speed rail continues in Kings County this spring but the people of the Central Valley and the state are as divided as ever over the project.

Fourteen years after California voters approved funding to begin building a statewide high-speed rail system, a clear majority of registered voters—and more than 70% of Democrats—still support the project, according to a new survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times.

The poll found that 56% of registered voters “support the state continuing to build the high-speed rail project, even if, as is currently planned, its operations only extend from Bakersfield to Merced in the Central Valley by the year 2030 and to the Bay Area by the year 2033.” Thirty-five percent of voters said they oppose completion of the project.

By a margin of 73% to 18% 

Democrats supported the project by a margin of 73% to 18%, and independents supported it by 54% and 37% opposed. Registered Republicans oppose the project by a similar margin, 66% to 25%.

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