Joe Antony Telles stands with CWC's Erasto Teran in front of his dry well and a dry irrigation tank. Prior to outreach from Mr. Teran, Mr. Telles was not aware about the drought assistance available from the county. Thanks to Mr. Teran's outreach, Mr. Telles recently applied for bottled water deliveries, which he should start receiving this week.
Dear friend,
Over 2,200 homes in the Central Valley now have dry wells, and wells continue running dry each week the drought continues. To help residents access immediate drought relief and organize for long-term solutions, we’re conducting outreach to Valley residents like Joe Antony Telles, who is only just now starting to receive drought assistance after his well went dry three months ago. Your help is needed to ensure that the individuals most affected by the drought can continue building and leading campaigns for reliable, safe, and affordable water.
CWC has been using organizing, education, and advocacy to advance community-driven water solutions in California’s Central Valley since long before the drought. We are raising money now to support our outreach directly to drought-impacted residents and our ongoing advocacy for lasting, community-driven drinking water solutions.
While some Californians without water have received tanks and hauled water, the majority of drought-impacted Californians have received inadequate state assistance to meet even their basic drinking water needs. Over seventy-five percent of the almost 3,000 homes statewide that have reported dry wells still don’t have tanks installed to receive hauled water.
CWC's Erasto Teran worked with Mr. Telles and two dozen other rural individuals to make calls to the Governor's Office to focus attention on the need to create solutions for private well owners impacted by the drought.
CWC has been working hard to fill several serious gaps in the drought response by:
1. Conducting outreach directly to potentially-impacted residents, like Mr. Telles, to inform them about the availability of bottled water deliveries and water tanks,
2. Connecting residents with advocacy opportunities, like calling the Governor's Office and their state representatives, to demand that our elected officials create better drought solutions,
3.Convening representatives from county, state, and federal agencies to collaboratively identify and address challenges in the drought response, and
4. Keeping the focus on the need for lasting solutions as well as interim ones. At the state level, we helped pass a policy making it easier to consolidate neighboring water systems, and at the local level, we’re working toward a regional solution in Northern Tulare County.
To ensure that our most vulnerable communities – some of which have lacked safe water for over a decade – don’t find themselves in this situation again, we need to accelerate lasting solutions as well as immediate ones. Please support the community-led water justice movement by giving $10, $25, $100 or more to the Community Water Center today.
We’re depending on people like you to help us continue connecting communities with the resources they need for both emergency relief and permanent water solutions. Thank you for joining us in the movement for water justice!
With gratitude,
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| Susana De Anda | Laurel Firestone, Esq. |
| Co-Executive Director | Co-Executive Director |
p.s. Even in the midst of the drought, communities are stepping up to secure safe water. We hope you'll join us to honor Leaders in the Face of Drought at our Water Justice Celebration on Tuesday, October 27th, in Visalia.