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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The City of Huron in Fresno County’s west side is facing a severe water crisis, receiving only a fraction of the water the city needs for the year. It leaves them with the possibility of running out of water mid-year. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /> "With 25 percent [allocation] that’s about 367 acre feet [of water], and that will bring us up to July 2015," said interim City Manager Jack Castro. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">After July, the future is uncertain.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Huron, a rural farming community, receives its water from a direct contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Just like farmers around the state, dealing with little water for their crops, the 7,000 people of Huron are facing a similar water crisis.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> <br /> "Where are we going to get this water?" Asks Irma Garcia, a Huron resident. "It’s kind of scary. It’s scary. Where are we going to get water from if they’re not going to give it to us? Where are we going to get it from?"</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">That’s what city leaders are trying to figure out.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Castro said their options are requesting more water with no guarantee of receiving it, drilling wells, or bringing it in by the truckload.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /> "About 140 to 150 tanker loads of water to be brought in from somewhere if we don’t have the water," Castro said. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Citywide, there’s already been a 24 percent reduction in water usage, Castro said. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">But they may have to up the conservation efforts.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /> "I try not to water my plants, my grass–everything is already all dead, yellow, because I’m trying to conserve water," Garcia said. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Last year, Huron received 50 percent of its water allocation bringing it through November, according to Betsy Lichti, district engineer with the Fresno Division of Drinking Water of the State Water Resources Control Board. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">This year, Castro said, the outlook is far worse.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">City leaders are appealing to state and federal representatives for help.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /> "That’s all we can do is keep asking, and let everybody know that Huron needs their help," Castro said. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The state’s Division of Drinking Water is working with the City of Huron in this water crisis.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">They’ll be meeting with city leaders Monday to have them come up with a drought contingency plan to figure out how they’ll be meeting basic human health and safety needs of their residents in this time of crisis, Lichti said. <br /></div><div></div></div>
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