Drought has created tremendous hardship for many in Glenn County who have had their wells run dry over the years.
To help, construction of a million-gallon water storage tank is moving forward in Orland. It’s part of an expansion of the city’s water system.
The California Department of Water Resources funded the project, which will allow city and nearby county residents who depend on well water to connect to the municipal supply.
Orland City Manager Pete Carr said the project is progressing but is behind schedule.
“The rate that the construction of the lines is going is very encouraging but the storage tank could take a while,” Carr said. “I think we’re under contract actually with the state to have this all done next summer but everyone acknowledges there’s going to have to be a 6-month or one year extension on it. Certainly by the summer of 2025 it has to be done.”
In addition to the water storage tank, other infrastructure including a deep well and pump is needed to complete the project.
Currently 175 residents have applied to be connected but Carr says there were more. He said decided to forgo being part of the project because they got water back in their well.
“We’ve tried to encourage them to consider that there will be more droughts,” Carr said. “And as long as the other wells around you, particularly the ag wells stay there, you can count on your smaller, shallower domestic well to go dry again.”
In addition to assuring reliable domestic water delivery, Carr said the added storage will greatly improve the city’s fire fighting capacity. He said in a major firefighting scenario the existing 80,000-gallon water tank would run dry in as little as 15 minutes.
