South Taft and Ford City will be getting some upgrades to their fire lines.
Thanks to a $150,000 grant, the West Kern Water District will soon begin improvements on systems in both areas.
South Taft has the greatest need, said J.D. Bramlet, director of operations for the water district.
"The Kern County Fire Department is interested in helping us improve the South Taft fire hydrant system," Bramlet told the district's board of directors Tuesday night.
"Wendy (Rosenberger) and I have been working with the county."
He said the county has a $150,000 grant to pay for the upgrades.
"I've been talking with them for several years to try to get something going up there. I think it's a good deal."
Bramlet was scheduled to meet with county fire officials yesterday to get the project going.
Although the urgent need is in South Taft, he said the Ford City system could use a boost too.
Meanwhile, the district's $35 million groundwater recharge recovery project is moving ahead.
The board approved the first payment request from contractor W.M. Lyles Co. to cover expenses through July. They amounted to $108,229, less the 10 percent retention for a total progress payment of $97,406.
So far, the work has included preliminary engineering design, field surveys of the proposed pipeline route, extensive potholing of underground facilities and preparation of the contract document.
The district's contract with Lyles is for just over $31 million.
The project will expand the district's well field and recharge basins, which have been reduced over the past three years by drought and severely curtailed deliveries of water from the California Aqueduct.
The project -- the largest the district has ever had -- is designed to meet future needs.
