Dried-out and sputtering residential wells are prompting officials in Butte County to declare an official water emergency.
The designation, if approved by the Board of Supervisors next week, would make the county eligible for potential emergency funding. And starting Tuesday, July 28, a free Chico filling station will open at Locust and 20th streets.
Casey Hatcher is a spokeswoman for Butte County.
“We want to make sure people have water for everyday household functions,” she said.
As the drought continued last year, 60 households reported their wells running dry. Another 17 have joined the list so far this year. Hatcher said the number of well problems reported at this time last year was considerably lower, suggesting failing wells will be more widespread before groundwater replenishing rains return in November.
The actual number of issues may be much higher. Concerns about property values and heavy-handed bureaucracy may be generating reluctance.
“We’re not going in and red-tagging homes and kicking people out, which I think has been a fear that we’ve heard,” Hatcher said. “The reason that we need to know is we need to have adequate resources to assist those homeowners.”
Residents in need can already get water at two locations in Oroville. A filling station at 234 Kelly Ridge Road provides water for containers up to five gallons for free. That same deal is available at 2310 Oro-Quincy Highway, but say you need a little more — you can also pay $5 to fill a container up to 2,500 gallons.
For more information, visit the Butte County website.
Correction: an earlier version of this story said that Butte County would be paying SFWP for water. This is not the case. If you need to fill a container larger than five gallons at the Oro-Quincy Highway filling station, you will be charged $5.