The Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee held an informational hearing on Wednesday titled “Drought Emergency Services: Protecting Our Most Vulnerable Communities.”  The purpose of the hearing was to inform the Legislature of the services provided for those families and individuals in California who find their source of water compromised, their wells gone dry, or their ability to obtain clean reliable water at risk.  

The first panel featured Eric Lamoureux, Regional Administrator, Inland Region, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), and Charles Rabamad, Assistant Director, Recovery Section, OES.  The panel described OES’ outreach efforts and the programs underway to provide bottled water, community showers, and water tanks to households in need.  The panel also explained the agency coordination taking place with counties, the Department of Social Services which provides food to local food banks, as well as upcoming relocation assistance that will be provided as a last resort by the Department of Housing and Community Development for renters of homes without water.

The local perspective was represented on the second panel by Denise England, Water Resources Program Manager, Tulare County, Jeff Taber, Deputy Director, Kings County Division of Environmental Health Services, Paul Boyer, Director of Community Development, Self-Help Enterprises, Ryan Jensen, Community Organizer, Community Water Center, Visalia, and Eric Osterling, Program Manager, Kings Basin Water Authority.  Ms. England discussed the number of dry wells in Tulare County and the activities of the county to enact short and long-term solutions.  England noted that 60 percent of well failures in Tulare impact rental property, and further explained the issues involved in securing source water. Mr. Boyer discussed the activities that Self-Help Enterprises has undertaken on multiple fronts to assist in drought efforts.  This assistance ranges from funding to deepen wells, to distributing water conservation kits.   Mr. Jensen identified some of the impediments facing individuals qualifying for funding assistance.  Mr. Taber discussed Kings County efforts to plan ahead to address multiple issues, but noted that there was not always an identified funding source to fund what is needed.  Mr. Osterling described the actions taken in the Kings Basin, and suggested that local planning efforts should include in the future a water supply/groundwater vulnerability analysis similar to what is being done to address climate change.       

The Committee background paper can be accessed here.