HANFORD (California) SENTINEL

February 10, 2010

County pledges ongoing support for Kettleman

By Eiji Yamashita

Kings County supervisors on Monday promised an ongoing effort to improve Kettleman City's quality of life.

Flanked by a team of officials and consultants at a news conference, Supervisor Richard Valle unveiled a resolution pledging the county's commitment to bringing better drinking water to the community while outlining its work thus far.

"This resolution supports the redevelopment of the area within the boundary of the Kettleman City Community Services District and supports the health, safety and welfare of Kettleman City residents," Valle said. "It reaffirms the commitment to the community as we move forward."

The resolution was scheduled for consideration at this morning's board meeting.

Monday's press conference came at a unique time because of the high-profile attention Kettleman City has received recently after stories of infant deaths and birth defects turned the spotlight on the historically underserved farmworker community of 1,500.

It also came a day before state health officials were scheduled to appear before the county supervisors to present the findings of their analysis of the Kettleman birth-defects data.

Officials are not shy about admitting that they want to take advantage of the timing to draw more attention to the area's water need, which they say is critical.

"The attention is welcome, as much as we've been asking for it," Valle said. "The timing of this is great, but again it's an opportunity to point out the historical effort the county has made over the last 15 years."

In addition to health concerns, Kettleman faces an ongoing drinking water crisis because of its dwindling quantity and substandard quality, and the county has been trying for years to build a surface water treatment facility there.

Kettleman City depends solely on groundwater supply, which has benzene and arsenic contamination levels higher than allowed by federal regulations. The water supply became so limited that the utility district has been imposing a moratorium on new developments for nine years.

"If you see growth in Kettleman, it's not really growing. We're just replacing," said Aletha Ware, chairwoman of Kettleman's utility district board. "People can only go where there's already water. We can't keep going like this."

At least six large commercial businesses have been turned away because of the moratorium -- missed opportunities for tax revenues, according to Peter Garza, treasurer of the district.

County officials say securing sufficient potable water supply is key to the long-term economic growth that would support Kettleman's quality of life for many years to come.

Many of the tools are already in place.

Kings County created a redevelopment district in 2004 for Kettleman's residential area and the commercial district along the Interstate 5 corridor to capture tax increment revenues. The county has also since allocated $3 million from its general fund as seed money toward the proposed water-treatment facility, a $10 million project.

A 5-acre property has been purchased with some of that money for the facility. Water rights have been secured to 900 acre-feet of state-allocated water from the California Aqueduct. The engineering designs are being finalized.

The only missing piece of the puzzle is the money -- $7 million to be exact. But a county-hired consultant remained optimistic.

"You have a project where land is available. You have a project where water is available. You have a matching fund, and you have engineering plans that are well under way," said Michael Sigala of Triangle Associates. "You have a shovel-ready project, and you have a need in the community that is tremendous."

Officials say they hope all these factors will help as the county goes after the $7 million. County Administrative Officer Larry Spikes said the county will most aggressively seek federal stimulus dollars but is also considering trying to attract public-private partnership investments from developers.