The State Water Resources Control Board ordered the consolidation of the East Orosi community’s water system with that of neighboring Orosi.
The East Orosi Community Services District serves a severely disadvantaged community of about 420 residents in an unincorporated community in Tulare County. The district has failed to provide safe drinking water to the community for more than 20 years due to nitrate contamination in a groundwater well and aging infrastructure. Over the past 14 years, the board has provided about $1.2 million for emergency hauled and bottled water delivery to East Orosi residents.
Orosi Public Utilities District, a larger water system with the ability to more reliably provide safe drinking water, is located a mile away from East Orosi and currently serves about 8,300 customers.
The Feb. 27 action removes a final hurdle to provide long overdue access to safe and affordable drinking water for East Orosi residents.
“After years of stalled progress toward a consolidation it first ordered in 2020,” the board’s release reports that, “the state water board’s new mandatory consolidation order replaces all prior orders with a clear enforceable construction timeline and directives for specific actions.”
“In California, we recognize that safe drinking water is a human right,” said Andrew Altevogt, assistant deputy director for the Division of Drinking Water. “We will enforce these new terms to make sure that East Orosi residents finally have reliable access to this basic necessity, just like 99% of all Californians.”
The board recommends consolidation, which commonly involves a smaller, struggling water system being absorbed into a larger one, as a sustainable way to secure safe drinking water for communities like East Orosi.
Since 2019 when the board’s Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience drinking water program began, there have been 180 consolidations in California, benefitting 362,000 people, mostly in disadvantaged communities.
The board fully covers the cost of consolidations that it orders, and the larger consolidated water system typically benefits from the expanded customer base.
“Imagine growing up believing that water only comes from a plastic bottle, and that the tap in your own home is not something you can trust,” Tulare County Supervisor Eddie Valero said. “For too many youth and families in East Orosi, that has been their reality. That is not right, and it is not acceptable in 2026.
“It’s time for all the parties involved to take full advantage of the support and funding the state water board is offering so we can finally get this consolidation done for the people of East Orosi,” he said. “They have waited far too long for safe, reliable drinking water in their homes, something most of us turn on every single day without a second thought.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: East Orosi residents to get safe drinking water after state order
Reporting by Steve Pastis, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
