Browning well in McFarland reopens after monthslong shutoff

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — McFarland has had a series of issues with water including the city’s decision to close the Browning well due to contaminants last October, but Mayor Saul Ayon says the city is turning a new tide starting with well’s reopening.

“Our wells are over 40 years old, you would have thought administration would have said we need to replace these wells. We inherited this mess but we’re fixing it, we’re addressing it,” City of McFarland Mayor Saul Ayon said.

The Browning well is the city’s newest, inherited in 2011. Since its shutdown the city had relied on its two other wells that are decades old. Ayon says the Browning well is the largest water producing well and its closing hurt the city after the well was found to be contaminated with 1,2,3 TCP and extremely high levels of nitrate.

But why the well became contaminated is still unknown.

“It can be just a change in the groundwater level, you’re drawing from different parts of the aquifer, it could be the introduction of a contaminant from another source,” City Engineer and Water Department spokesperson Kristopher Wilcox said.

Ayon says that uncertainty caused the city to notify residents not to drink the water ahead of the shutdown.

“Once we found out that it was this well we shut it down completely and the reason we had to send out those notices is because the state requires us in case on of our wells goes down we have to use this one but knock on wood we didn’t get to that point,” Mayor Ayon said.

Nitrates are extremely expensive and difficult to treat, so Ayon decided to ask the state for help and was given $439,000 in funding.

He says McFarland now has a new treatment system designed by Kristopher Wilcox.

“Treatment is really expensive and to build a treatment system on every well you drill would be cost prohibitive it would just drive up the rates for customers,” Wilcox said.

“McFarland is a disadvantaged community and we try our best to meet to meet the water quality standards in the most cost effective way we can.”

Instead of the well pumping straight into the system, it now moves water through a treatment system and then into the distribution system.

Ayon said the water is back on for McFarland to use, and he will be drinking.

“This administration is very transparent. I live here, my family lives here, I’m not going to tell people to drink the water when it’s contaminated,” he said.

When asked if he has drank the water, Ayon replied, “Absolutely. You can bring me a gallon, I’ll drink it right now.”

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