Water Service Restored To Clayton Residents In Slide Neighborhood

CLAYTON (CBS SF) – Frustrated residents along Clayton's Morgan Territory Road, who have been nearly isolated by a massive landslide, have received a mixed bag of good and bad news over the last 12 hours.

The good news came from the Contra Costa Water District. Water service was restored to 90 local homes Thursday night, but the water was only to be used for bathing, flushing the toilet and hydrating animals. Until testing is done, residents were warned to remain using bottled water for drinking.

Now for the bad news.

The California Highway Patrol says the hillside is still moving and county officials told residents at a Thursday night meeting they did not know what the main road would be repaired.

For residents like Joan Karini life has been a challenge since the roadway gave way during the last bout of severe weather.

"We are kind of stuck, we have two horses out here, and we don't have enough water for them," she told KPIX 5 last weekend. "We would have to go down to the creek and carry water up for the horses."

The slide is forcing the local residents to use a narrow rural road to traverse in and out of the area.

"I have a job in Brentwood," said Cheryl Morgan. "My commute went from about 45 minutes to 2 hours and 45 minutes."

Because of the mudslide, the fire department has parked a truck nearby. If there is a fire emergency, firefighters will have to improvise. If there is a medical emergency, the patient will have to be airlifted out.