Water issues in Allensworth
An editorial photography assignment for Food & Environment Reporting Network had me down in Allensworth last month documenting the dire water situation the Tulare County town of 500 is going through.
Be sure to check out the story by reporter Teresa Cotsirilos, who did a great job painting a picture of the irony of how a place in California's Central Valley, which produces 25 percent of the nation's food supply, can have a water problem.
I've been to the state park Allensworth for editorial photography several times but never to the little town that actually has living residents in it just down the road. It really is a sad situation that the town that was founded more than 100 years ago because African Americans couldn't get a fair shake unless they went out on their own, continues to fight discrimination and racist policies.
See the photos below for my coverage of the story:
Denise Kadara fills up her water bottle from a spigot producing the only clean water in the town of Allensworth collected from solar hydro panels, background, that suck ambient moisture from the air. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
Dusty roads and parched land lead through the town of Allensworth in rural Tulare County, California. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
A monument marks the location of Allensworth, California, a town established in 1908 by former slave Lt. Col. Allen Allensworth to become the only California town founded, built, governed and populated entirely by African Americans. The site is now a state park, but another Allensworth with a residential population of around 500 still exists down the road. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
A community center honors its namesake, Lt. Col Allen Allensworth in the town of Allensworth in rural Tulare County, California. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
A water storage tank and pump are no longer in service at the Allensworth Community Services Center as the water in the well is highly contaminated with arsenic. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
Denise Kadara, from left, Sherry Hunter and Valeria Contreras talk on the steps of the Allensworth Community Center on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. The women are residents of the small Tulare County town and are trying to get help to provide its residents with clean water. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
Valeria Contreras, a resident of Allensworth in rural Tulare County, California, stands in a dusty dirt road leading into the town on Friday, Aug. 29, 2022. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)
Hundreds of acres of pistachios are irrigated from groundwater pumps a couple of miles down the road from Allensworth. (Photo by Craig Kohlruss)