When the well runs dry
In one of the towns hardest hit by California’s drought, the only way some residents can get water to flush the toilet is to drive to the fire station, hand-pump water into barrels and take it back home.
The trip has become a regular ritual for Macario Beltran, 41, and his daughters, who here are pumping water into containers in the bed of his old Toyota pickup truck to be used for bathing, dish washing and toilet flushing.
Abigail Beltran, 6, whose family's well has run dry, climbs on a water storage tank in her front yard in Porterville.
Manuel Rodriguez, 83, watches as workmen install a water pump to carry water from an outdoor container into his home.
Rodriguez watches as workmen install a water pump to carry water from an outdoor container into his home.
Pastor Frankie Olmedo, 56, (left) who volunteers four hours a day to hand out water, fills up a container for Luis Bocanegra, 35.
Discarded shopping carts lie in the dry Tule riverbed in Porterville.
Water pours into a container.
Marisela Corona, 26, whose well has run dry, washes dishes with her daughter Andrea Andrade Corona, 8, from a water bucket.
Macario Beltran, a mechanic whose family's well has run dry, stands with his daughter Abigail.
