Faucets, Patience Run Dry in Tiny Acton : Water Shortages Plague 40 Households for 3 Days During Heat Wave

After a long, hot day behind the wheel of his delivery truck, Eric McCloskey longed for a cool shower when he drove home to Acton, only to discover--along with dozens of neighbors--that water taps were dry. He showered by pouring water from 5-gallon jugs, his earthquake emergency supply, over his head.

After another blistering day behind the wheel, McCloskey happily discovered Wednesday evening that the water was back on. At least briefly.

“He was taking a shower and the water went off again,” said his father, Hugh McCloskey, with a slight chuckle. “It’s been fun if you keep your sense of humor. But it’s also been trying.”

Public Awareness

McCloskey’s experience was typical of the annoying inconveniences felt in Acton for three days during an intermittent water shortage. The shortage affected only about 40 households in the town of 6,500, but residents said it has heightened public awareness of the rural community’s fragile water supply and focused attention on the impact of development there.

Unusually heavy water use during the current heat wave left homes without water for hours at a time, and county workers rushed Wednesday to hook a private well to the Los Angeles County water system to assist customers left high and dry by the shortage, authorities said.

The Department of Public Works trucked water to remote households in the rural community, which is 47 miles north of Los Angeles, to water down sweltering horses. Department workers walked door-to-door Wednesday, posting flyers urging residents to conserve water.

Gary Hartley, assistant deputy director of the Department of Public Works, said the high demand for water left the county’s two water tanks, which hold 1.2 million gallons, well below normal levels. The county’s one well could not refill the tanks fast enough so water pressure fell, leaving some homes without water.

The county’s Waterworks District No. 37 serves about 700 homes in Acton. Most residents obtain their water from private wells and were not affected by the shortage.

Hartley said the town’s water supply is not in danger. “We’ve got plenty of water in the aquifer,” he said. The problem, he said, was the lack of a secondary water source to augment the county well.

Big Dipper Water

The department has worked since Saturday to hook the water district to Big Dipper Water Delivery Service, a private water company. Hartley expected to have Big Dipper water flowing into the county system Wednesday night, but apparently not in time for Eric McCloskey’s shower.

Since the county has not used Big Dipper water before, the Health Department urged residents, as a precaution, to boil water for a few days because purity tests on the company’s water have not been completed. Hartley said the initial rush of water might release contaminants in the new pipes.

Hartley said the problem should be solved in August, when a new well, paid for by developers, is completed. Under a policy adopted 18 months ago, developers cannot build until they provide their own water supply, he said. The county is negotiating to obtain water from the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, which receives water from northern California.

Residents angrily blamed the water shortage on developers, county planners and the Board of Supervisors. “It’s a known fact there’s a water problem, and they keep building up here,” Sandra Conn said. Conn said she drove to a friend’s house 17 miles away to load up buckets and barrels of water for her three horses.

Other residents said developers have installed lush landscaping that requires more water than local conditions will allow. Some newcomers, they groused, still think they live in Los Angeles and waste water accordingly.

Charles Brink, who has lived in Acton since 1946, said locals understand they have to conserve in the country. “We just never had water to waste,” he said. “We still have a working outhouse for emergencies. It hasn’t been used in 20 years but it’s there.”