Appliance Repair in South Dos Palos, CA

DOS PALOS, Calif. (KFSN) -- The City of Dos Palos is shutting down water for its residents for at least three days to treat after its water treatment plant became clogged with algae.

The city says water is currently being used faster than it can be treated and sent out, so residents should prepare for water to stop flowing.

"We have a water shutdown that was caused by a concentration of algae that came into our system from the California Aqueduct and we are trying our best for many days to keep that rolling through our system but it finally clogged our system to the point where the filtration system came to a halt," says city manager Darrell Fonseca.

Dos Palos is preparing to install a temporary filtration system and is now adding additives to the raw water coming into the plant to reduce the algae.

"We can't even wash our hands at this point. We can't wash our clothes, can't wash our dishes; it's scary being in a pandemic but now being without water - what's a mom to do, what's a person to do?" says resident Jackie Cipriani.

Adds another resident, Karla Wallace: "It will be like camping in our own house while we pay for water."

The city receives its water from a pipeline connected to California Aqueduct, located about 18 miles away.

The water coming through the aqueduct is seasonally high in organic content, including algae, and treating this water takes longer.

Dos Palos wrote in a Facebook post that the temporary filtration system would help the plant process the water faster.

The city is requesting assistance from the City of Merced, Merced County, and the City of Gustine for shipments of water supply.

Officials hope to have a shipment of water flats by Tuesday morning.

"Those people who have medical issues need to contact City Hall and see if we can get people to help them with their water situation," says mayor April Hogue.

The city says it does plan on making concessions for those making water payments during the shutdown.The city says it could not give advance notice of the water shut off because "the situation evolved quickly".

Last week, Action News spoke with several city officials, who said crews were working around the clock to keep the water pumping into their plant and troubleshoot any obstacles due to the algae problem.

RELATED: Algae in California Aqueduct causes water challenges in Dos Palos

The city experienced similar issues back in 2013. Residents and businesses relied on bottled water until the aging filtration system could be replaced, using a half-million dollar grant.

With the fall 2021 California high school football season in the books, it’s time to hand out some awards.

From Clovis running back Tristan Risley to Buchanan defensive back Jerry Rangel, there were many standout performers in Central Section high school football this season. The 26-player team was compiled by SBLive reporter Bodie DeSilva.

(Lead photo by Bobby Medellin)

Quarterback: Roland Russo – Bullard – Senior

Russo tossed 38 touchdown passes and had just under 3,600 passing yards while leading the Knights to the Central Section Division 2 Championship.

Running Back: Danny Olivera – Firebaugh – Senior

Olivera was a nightmare for opponents to bring down this season, posting four games of 200 rushing yards or more. He finished the season with over 2,100 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns, finding his way into the end zone at least once in every game until the season finale.

Running Back: Tristan Risley – Clovis – Senior

Risley finished his career off with a bang, rushing for just shy of 1,900 yards with 27 total touchdowns. He surpassed 4,000 career rushing yards and exits with 56 career touchdowns.

Running Back: Brandon Ramirez - San Joaquin Memorial - Junior

Ramirez makes an impact on both sides of the ball and emerged at running back for the Panthers during this season. He rushed for an even 1,000 yards and scored 13 touchdowns while averaging ten yards per carry.

Wide Receiver: Mikey Olvera – Dinuba – Senior

Olvera started his season fast, catching ten passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns in week two and kept it up throughout the season. He finished with 65 catches for 1,154 yards and 19 touchdowns to help the Emperors go 8-5.

Wide Receiver: Bryson Waterman – Bakersfield Christian – Junior

Waterman had a big season catching passes from older brother Braden, finishing with 65 catches for 1,059 yards and 13 touchdowns. He showed his all-around ability, rushing for a touchdown, grabbing three interceptions and returning both a punt and a kick for touchdowns.

Wide Receiver: Jalyn Utendahl – Bullard – Senior

Utendahl led the section with 83 receptions to go along with over 1,100 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Athlete: Jason Oliver – Liberty – Senior

Oliver makes an impact on all three sides of the ball and stepped up this season as the Patriot’s top receiver during their run to the state championship game. He caught 38 passes for 882 yards and ten touchdowns. Olive also had 37 tackles, two forced fumbles, a sack and returned a punt for a touchdown.

Offensive Line: Cade Gretein - Liberty - Junior

Gretlein helped pave the way up front for a Patriots team that won the Division 1 Central Section Championship in dominating fashion.

Offensive Line: Brayden Hall - San Joaquin Memorial - Junior

Hall was named first team all-league for the second straight season while helping the Panthers rush for over 227 yards per game.

Offensive Line: Tanner Hirschler - Central (Fresno) - Senior

Hirchsler was dominant during his final season, helping the Grizzlies put up over 450 yards per game while averaging 37 points per contest.

Offensive Line: Gage de la Cruz - San Joaquin Memorial - Junior

Playing alongside Hall, de la Cruz is imposing at six-foot-five and over 300 pounds. The pair will be part of an experienced and dominant group up front for the Panthers next season.

Offensive Line: Karson Eckert - Clovis - Senior

Eckert led the way up front for a run-first offense that went over 3,000 rushing yards this season.

Defensive Line: Jaeden Moore – Central Valley Christian – Junior

Moore was dominant all season for the Cavaliers. He finished the year with 155 tackles, 17.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three blocked punts and even a blocked field goal. Moore also would have been the choice as the Central Section’s top tight end after catching 60 passes for 975 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Defensive Line: Jayden Dock – Bakersfield – Senior

Docks was consistently productive throughout the season, totaling 64 tackles and 13.5 sacks for the Drillers.

Defensive Line: JC Tapia – Dos Palos – Senior

Tapia was a beast up front for the Broncos this season, finishing his final season with 51 tackles, ten sacks and a forced fumble while helping Dos Palos to a 10-1 record.

Defensive Line: Jose Davila – Firebaugh – Senior

Davila posted solid defensive numbers the past two years before breaking out with 63 tackles and 15 sacks this season. Against Sunnyside in November, Davila had seven tackles, four sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Linebacker: Koda Lamanuzzi – Bullard – Senior

Lamanuzzi was a playmaker on the Knights defense this season, finishing with 81 tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Linebacker: Logan Bowers – Garces Memorial – Senior

Bowers totaled 106 tackles, nine sacks and three forced fumbles, helping the Rams to a 6-4 season. He also averaged over nine yards per carry and had six touchdowns on offense.

Linebacker: Marcus Ramirez – Central (Fresno) – Senior

Ramirez anchored the Grizzlies defense, finishing the year 85 tackles, 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception.

Linebacker: Keanu Kuma – Washington Union – Senior

Kuma capped off his career with a whopping 140 tackles, a sack and a blocked field goal this season.

Defensive Back: Jayden Davis – Bullard – Senior

The Fresno State-signee rarely came off the field for the Knights. He had 84 tackles, six interceptions, three forced fumbles and two sacks. Davis also handled return duty and caught 14 touchdown passes on offense.

Defensive Back: TJ Hall – San Joaquin Memorial – Senior

Hall finished out his fourth varsity year with a huge season. He had 26 tackles and three interceptions on defense and was the Panthers top option on offense, finishing with 17 total touchdowns.

Defensive Back: Dominic Castaneda – Liberty (Madera) – Senior

Few players in the Central Section are involved in as many plays as Castaneda. He grabbed six interceptions for the second consecutive season to go along with 39 tackles. Castaneda also had over 1,600 total yards and 20 touchdowns while also returning kicks and punts.

Defensive Back: Jerry Rangel – Buchanan – Senior

Rangel had a huge season patrolling the Bears secondary, finishing with 119 tackles and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

Returner: Imari Conley – Central (Fresno) – Junior

Conley averaged over 32 yards per kick return and returned two for touchdowns this season. He also contributed with five interceptions and three receiving touchdowns.

Merced County approved the new supervisorial district lines on Saturday, marking a large shift in the Los Banos area but otherwise keeping the map rather similar for the next decade.

The board approved a map named NDC 101d, which was submitted by county consultant National Demographics Corporation, by a 4-1 vote.

The most visible change for the new districts comes with District 1 and District 5. For the last decade, District 5 has spanned the southwestern portion of Merced County, representing Los Banos, Dos Palos and Santa Nella.

But because of large population growth in the area, the new map has moved Santa Nella into District 1, which also contains Livingston and south Merced.

Before the new map was finalized, District 5 Supervisor Scott Silveira spoke to the pending change in his district of losing Santa Nella and his commitment to still support the community.

“I have a special place in my heart for Santa Nella. I share the frustrations that they don’t have a park, and I will say right now I know this is a redistricting hearing, but I’m committed to getting us a park in Santa Nella. I’ve been working hard on trying to get a park in Santa Nella. This board has supported us getting a park in Santa Nella,” Silveira said.

“I think it’s a travesty that they don’t have a park there. If it ends up that I don’t represent Santa Nella moving forward, my commitment still to those folks is I’m still committed to getting you a park there, and I will do everything that I can to try to make sure that that happens.”

While some counties across the Valley have been home to controversial redistricting meetings with heavy public involvement, only a handful of people addressed the Merced County Board of Supervisors.

One resident brought forth concerns regarding the fact that map NDC 101d has two majority Latino citizen voting age population (CVAP) districts and asked why there are not three.

District 1 has a 59 percent Latino CVAP, and District 5 has a 56 percent Latino CVAP. No other district breaks the 41 percent mark.

Legal counsel Chris Skinnell addressed those concerns, explaining that the Supreme Court has ruled for the necessity of minority-majority districts that place higher than just the bare minimum of 51 percent.

“Instead of doing just a bare 51 percent and calling it even is because historically the courts have recognized that protected classes for Voting Rights Act purposes – in this county, Latinos, but in other places other groups – often register to vote and turn out to vote at lower rates,” Skinnell said.

“So for those to be legitimate opportunity districts for Voting Rights Act purposes, they typically tend to need to be a bit higher than just 50 percent.”

Here’s a look at the new Merced County Supervisorial districts with their respective CVAP numbers:

District 1

Latino: 59 percent

White: 22 percent

Black: 4 percent

Asian/Pacific Islander: 14 percent

District 2

Latino: 40 percent

White: 42 percent

Black: 6 percent

Asian/Pacific Islander: 10 percent

District 3

Latino: 41 percent

White: 43 percent

Black: 6 percent

Asian/Pacific Islander: 9 percent

District 4

Latino: 40 percent

White: 52 percent

Black: 1 percent

Asian/Pacific Islander: 6 percent

District 5

Latino: 56 percent

White: 34 percent

Black: 4 percent

Asian/Pacific Islander: 4 percent

A pandemic, chronic material and labor shortages and record-high inflation were not enough to slow record commercial real estate sales in 2021.

While doubling 2020’s numbers may not have been a high bar to pass, the $809 billion in sales in 2021 even surpassed the previous record of $600 billion for 2019, according to data from Real Capital Analytics.

The U.S. market also surpassed sales records in November, with Q4 sales past $300 billion. Apartment transactions comprised nearly one-half of total deal volume. The industrial market experienced the largest growth of property sectors with a year-over-year gain of 29.2%, compared to the 22.9% average reported across all markets.

Locally, six brokerages reported 67 transactions in 2021 totaling $334.14 million. The numbers were shared with The Business Journal for its list of Largest Commercial Real Estate Deals published Jan. 25.

Industrial properties and multi-family properties have also been driving sales in the Central Valley. The largest commercial real estate deal reported in 2021 was a lease in the North Pointe Business Park totaling $41 million, brokered by Newmark Pearson Commercial. Permits filed with the City of Fresno listed Amazon as the tenant.

Multi-family sales in the Central Valley have been driven not only by demand, but also record high rents.

The New York Times reported Fresno as experiencing the highest year-over-year increase in the nation with a 28% jump to median one-bedroom rent of $1,410.

Luxury apartment Rock Ranch debuted in North Fresno, with amenities such as programmable doors and lights. Increasingly, these high-end apartment projects are the ones that pencil out best considering fees and regulatory costs, according to developers.

Even in a drought, ag sales showed no slowing. Visalia-based Schuil & Associates reported the highest ag sale with 6,800 acres of almonds and open land sold near Five Points in Fresno County for $70 million. Marc Schuil, Scott Schuil, Jonathan Verhoeven and Doug Phillips brokered the deal.

Followed closely behind were two sales by Pearson Realty, both more than $60 million. A $66 million deal in Dos Palos included nine homes in a labor camp brokered by Dan Kevorkian of Pearson Realty. A $64 million deal included 1,843 acres of grapes, almonds, pistachios and open land brokered by Stanley Kjar, Jr. and A.J. Ferdinandi, also with Pearson.

Despite a lucrative year for sales, Central Valley commercial construction numbers dipped year-over-year, according to the Construction Monitor, which tracks construction permit activity. Some $852.9 million was reported in construction permit valuation in Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties for 2021, with remodels and additions leading the way. Construction in 2020 topped $1 billion, lead by new structures. The $239 million of industrial and warehouse construction in 2020 topped that of 2021 by nearly $140 million.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Senator Alex Padilla was joined by Congressman Jim Costa on a tour of the aging water infrastructure of Dos Palos on Friday, allowing Senator Padilla the chance to see the desperate need for clean water in the Central Valley.

"We're the richest country in the world," Congressman Costa said. "And to have cities like Dos Palos and others where their water system shuts down or they can't meet state or federal drinking water requirements is simply unconscionable. Period."

The two were joined by local politicians and government officials in front of the local water treatment plant, which was shut down for days in 2020 after it became clogged with algae.

RELATED: Water may not flow in Dos Palos for 3 days due to algae problem

To avoid that issue again, federal, state and local leaders worked to secure more than $11 million in funding to pay for a new water treatment plant.

That's welcome news for residents like Judi Coleman, but she says it won't matter if old pipes remain.

"After that water plant is built and it's got beautiful water coming out of it, we will never have good, fresh water we can drink until all the pipes in town are replaced," Coleman said.

Senator Padilla plans to address concerns like that through one of the first bills he's introduced: the Lead-Free Drinking Water for All Act, which would invest $45 billion to replace every lead pipe in America over the next ten years.

"So I'm proud to support the legislation that will strengthen our water system and solve these historic injustices," Senator Padilla said.

Local farmer Joe del Bosque gave the senator a tour of his farm to highlight the struggles of farmers during the drought and to make sure they're part of that priority too.

"Absolutely it excites me because we've been waiting a long time to try to get something done with this water situation," del Bosque said. "We've been struggling with water issues for decades here on the west side, so I'm very excited and hopeful that something can get done."

The groundbreaking for the new water treatment plant, which will be built right next to the current plant, is expected to begin this fall.