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Turning on the tap: clean water flows in Seville

The Community of Seville has clean tap water today for the first time in almost five years. The County of Tulare led a project to construct a replacement water system and potable water is available throughout the community. As of Friday, May 15, 2020, the Water Board has rescinded the boil water notice.

“We are excited to have been part of the team bringing a clean, safe, reliable water system to Seville and we look forward to transitioning it over to the newly created Yettem-Seville CSD,” said Reed Schenke, Director, Tulare County Resource Management Agency. “This ensures the residents and users of the infrastructure can own and maintain the system with local control and interest. We want to thank all of the partners, sponsors, and community members who have been part of this project.”

This new water system is the first phase in a County project to improve water quality and quantity in the communities of Yettem and Seville. The County, working with the Community Service District (CSD) and other community stakeholders, has begun a grant application to construct the second phase of the project to add a new well in Yettem and connect both water systems along Avenue 384. This second phase of construction is expected in 2021 or 2022.

“Communities like Seville and Yettem represent the hardships we still face as a county,” stated  District 4 Supervisor, Eddie Valero. “However, it is through commitment, resolve, and a collective capacity that enables us to tackle these issues for the betterment of County residents.”

The County has served as the court-appointed receiver for the Seville Water Company since 2009, when the State of California asked the County to help the community with ongoing water quality and quantity problems. Seville has received international attention in the past for its issues with access to clean drinking water, including serving as a focal point on water quality issues in the San Joaquin Valley in the UN Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Mission to the United States of America (2011).

The County is working with the recently formed Yettem-Seville Community Services District (CSD) to transfer ownership and control of the new system, along with the County’s water system in Yettem, to the CSD in the near future.

Seville’s replacement water system construction was funded by a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board and the connections were funded by Self-Help Enterprises and Community Services Employment Training (CSET). The project was designed by Provost and Pritchard Consulting Group and the general contractor was Brough Construction, Inc.

For more information about community projects like this one, log on to https://tularecounty.ca.gov/rma/

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