Getting Water To A Town In Need

05/15/2007 (KFSN) -- It's been a long time coming, but the people who live in the area known as "Herndon-Town" are getting a long-time promise fulfilled.

Herndon town is the area on Herndon Avenue, just East of Highway 99. There are about 160 people who call Herndon town home. The City of Fresno annexed it 21 years ago but never provided the town people with basic services like water and sewer.

Sylvia Arredondo says if it's not sand in her tap water, it's the water pressure that sometimes is just a trickle. Simple things like washing dishes and showering are done at the mercy of the town's decrepit water system.

Arredondo says "the hot water takes forever to get hot. It's cold then my mom has to warm up water on the stove so she can get hot, hot water to wash dishes."

This is the privately owned well that services the small town off of Highway 99 and Herndon. It was built during World War II and still has 3 inch water mains.

Brian Calhoun, Fresno City Council, says "it's truly a tinker toy system. It reminds me of an irrigation system, what you do in your yard." The City of Fresno's pipes are nearly triple the size.

Councilmember Brian Calhoun applied for a grant that would help bring the community's water and sewer system up to the standards provided for the rest of Fresno.

The pressure in the town's fire hydrant is so low that the house that was on this lot burned to the ground recently because firefighters couldn't get enough water out.

The City of Fresno says it will take about $1.1 million to install water lines. They say they're willing to work on that but the only problem is, you still have a town with no sewer system.

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