DFG News Release

State and Merced County Work Together to Provide Water to Migrant Family Housing Facility

Los Banos, Calif. - An agreement among state and county agencies was recently reached that will bring clean drinking water to farm workers and their families.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by California’s Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the Housing Authority of Merced County (HACM) and the state Department of Housing and Community Development Office of Migrant Services (OMS). The MOU outlines how the City of Los Banos will provide water from its drinking water supply to a migrant family housing facility located just outside city limits.

In 2004, the HACM authorized construction on the new migrant family housing facility that would replace an existing facility. At that time, the onsite well met drinking water standards but because of subsequent changes in federal and state water standards, the HACM needed to seek an alternative water supply. Each harvest season since the facility opened in May 2006, the HACM has provided bottled water to residents.

DFG owns and operates an outdated domestic water supply line for the Los Banos Wildlife Area. Constructed in the 1970s, the line conveys water from the City of Los Banos to the wildlife area along Highway 165 and the Henry Miller Road alignments and past the migrant family center.

DFG has been working with the HACM and OMS to determine how a water diversion could be created to provide water to the facility, while allowing the department to continue to meet its obligation to the public visitors of the wildlife area, its employees, and the employee families who live there. In addition, the wildlife area must continue receiving water in order to remain responsive to fire protection on the property, adjacent lands and structures.

Over the summer of 2008, state and county fire marshals informed DFG that because of the water system’s aging infrastructure, any changes to the water line could require significant and costly upgrades.

Despite these challenges, DFG worked to create a solution to the water supply problem. The MOU was signed, improvements to the water line and water quality testing were completed, and the City of Los Banos agreed to supply water to the center. All obstructions have now been resolved and the HACM is ready to connect to the line.

Despite this success, the age and size of the old pipeline limits the capacity and security of the water supply for both the housing center and the wildlife area. HACM is applying for a state grant for their portion of the permanent line and DFG is identifying a funding source for the portion of the line that continues to the wildlife area.