Tulare County supervisors approve contract to help East Orosi residents
In one more slow step forward for the residents of East Orosi, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an amended contract that will allow county staff to run the community’s beleaguered wastewater treatment system.
Tulare County Resource Management Agency already administers East Orosi’s drinking water system. The amended contract with the state Water Resources Control Board means funding will increase by more than $408,000, giving the county enough money to also run the community’s wastewater system through March 2027.
“Their wastewater system is in just as much disarray as the water system was,” said Denise England, Tulare County’s grants and resources manager.
East Orosi’s approximately 1,000 residents have complained for years about sewage overflows, nitrate-contaminated drinking water, financial mismanagement and other issues. Both systems were run by the three-member board of the East Orosi Community Services District.
All have since been removed from their positions, including the manager, who was terminated last week.
“This clears up some of the challenges we’ve had in getting financial documents and helping community members know who to pay and how much to pay,” England said.
Long time coming
Progress continues, though slowly.
About ten years ago, the state began providing bottled water to residents. In 2020, the Water Board ordered the nearby, larger town of Orosi to connect homes served by the East Orosi CSD as part of a forced consolidation to bring a permanent solution to the community’s drinking water woes.
In the interim, the state appointed Tulare County to service East Orosi’s domestic wells until the consolidation is complete. But the county lacked the ability to intervene in the community’s wastewater issues.
That changed in September, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 805 into law. The bill authorizes the state Water Board to intervene when a sewer service provider does not meet regulatory standards or fails to maintain the technical, managerial and financial capacity needed to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. The Water Board can then contract with a new administrator.
Last month, state Water Board staff held a meeting in East Orosi to let residents know that it proposed Tulare County run the wastewater system as well.
England said work on the wastewater system can begin as soon as the Water Board holds a hearing to sign off on the contract, which should happen in August.
Tulare County Supervisor Eddie Valero, whose district includes East Orosi, thanked England for her efforts.
“I’ve talked to residents and they say it is night and day in terms of the work that we’ve already been doing with the county in taking over the water system,” he said.
Valero also thanked his board colleagues for not giving up on the community.
“I know it’s been challenging,” he said. “I know that there have been many jumps and hoops that we’ve had to go through but I want to thank them for their unwavering support in making sure that this unincorporated community of East Orosi has clean, safe and affordable drinking water.”
England said construction plans for the drinking water system have been approved by both the county and the Orosi Public Utility District, and will go out to bid. The connection project will take about 18 months to complete.
