SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- One of the largest unhoused encampments in San Jose does not have drinking water. The city shut off water fountains because they say the pipes keep getting vandalized. Now unhoused people are using things like food stamps to get water or take their chances with contaminated water.
Alleged gang members arrested for ‘random’ fatal shooting in San JoseUnhoused advocates and unhoused people say the water at Columbus Park — located just south of San Jose Mineta International Airport — is critical to people washing clothes, drinking water and washing dishes. About 400 people live within Columbus Park.
People at the park have complained of the water being shut off for up to two months.
The City of San Jose says there are multiple instances of the water fountains — which are city property — being vandalized each time they are repaired. The city told KRON4 that the water supply is now cut off as long as the encampment exists.
Homeless advocates say this is unacceptable.
Katherine Davis has lived at Columbus Park for six years and says the city deciding to cut off the water is dangerous.
"It's horrible," says Davis. "We have hundreds of people out here and hundreds of animals."
The Mayor's Office tells KRON4 that all the recreational vehicles (RVs) fall under the Oversized and Lived-In Vehicle Enforcement program, which means at some point this year they will all be swept. The timetable is not clear, but until then all the people living within Columbus Park will be without drinkable water flowing through it.
"I think that's audacious for the city to say that when they have intentionally swept everyone to here and then say, 'we're not gonna turn on the water,'" says unhoused advocate Shaunn Cartwright. "It's your fault that everybody's here, the policies have failed, that people don't have water. You have a responsibility to these people that you have placed here and abandoned here. You have a responsibility to them and their pets to provide water."
City officials say they have provided portable toilets and hand washing stations to help with hygiene, but even those have all run dry.
The city says they will fix the drinking fountains only after the park gets cleared and goes through a redesign in 2026.
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