. >> allensworth was founded in 1908 by corn follow allen allensworth, former slave. >> reporter: the buildings now a state park paying homage to the town founded by black settlers, creating california's first all-black community. >> we had a train spur that rain through here, we had water. it was a thriving, bustling community. junior but then colonel allensworth died in 1914. >> he was run over by a motorcycle two times. >> reporter: the train station got relocated down the road. >> that economy just got shipped to the next town. >> reporter: today, allens worth is a story of two towns. the historic past languishing in the state park, and the living community of postally latino farm workers. both are now under threat from the record snowpack sitting in the sierras. >> that's a huge lake coming our way. >> reporter: his late grandmother left texas to live in allensworth, becoming its unofficial mayor. now it's her family doing the heavy lifting as nature bears down. when monster rains came in early march, the white river, which is supposed to pass allensworth, instead took aim at the

it is not just allensworth. >> allensworth's water has arsenic levels as many as 250 parts per billionsity researchers, 1.3 million americans have public water with high levels of arsenic. >> when somebody says arsenic, you are thinking, that is going to kill somebody. >> the world health organization says long-term exposure to arsenic can cause cancer and skin lesions. it has also been linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. the columbia study found higher levels of arsenic in public water are impacting mainly communities of color, especially latino neighborhoods, at a higher rate, forcing families in allensworth, now a predominantly latino town, and many across the country to either buy water or drink the contaminated h2o. >> for many families, getting their hands on clean drinking water requires a trip to water kiosks, where they get to fill up their water bottles and take it home. but that journey is not close by. we are talking at least 15 miles from allensworth to the nearest water kiosk. >> but it is more than arsenic worrying residents. government data analyzed by abc ne

we are talking about at least 15 miles from allensworth to the nearest water kiosk.at is more than arsenic wearing residents. government data analyzed found poor neighborhoods with larger populations of people of color reported more epa violations than mostly white wealthier communities. those cities often have water treatment facilities filter out many of these toxins. but according to columbia researchers, many minority communities do not have the resources. >> the racial ethnic makeup of your community and how much money you make should not at all be associated with the quality of your drinking water. >> at a certain point, do you feel forgotten? >> to what extent, yes. -- an extent, yes. but we are determined to do our part in improving communities like this. not just this community. reporter: funding. >> if we can pull that off, taking arsenic out of the communities drinking water in its entirety. reporter: help may be on the horizon. karina: tomorrow, on earth d don't miss our look at the nation's aging water infrastructure, the first installment of our new ser

who traveled to allensworth for us. all that snowmelt has to go somewhere.is town specifically concerned? >> well, this town is a historic town that was founded in 1908. it's actually the first black community funded and founded by the black community in california's history. and it's right at the -- kind of where the white river ends up. and there is just -- it's a very vulnerable area to flooding. and earlier in march, they really got hit by some of the really heavy rains that flooded the town. it's a historic town. it's actually two parts to this town. there's the historic town that was developed in 1908. it's part of a state park and it has all the historic buildings. but then the other part of it, it's a living community. it's about 97% farm workers, latino farm workers. and so it's a really -- it's a special area. it's especially vulnerable to flooding. especially with what's going to come down that mountain in the next few months. >> it's vulnerable to flooding, joe, so is there anything being done about the dangers at this point? >> well, the people

corcoran is the epicenter right now -- but there are smaller ones like the historically black town of allensworthor instance -- they don't have a lot of money to begin with. and their resources are being stretched very thin by this. >> it is hard for the government to do when we are facing economic headwinds against california and the rest of the global economy. here in california, we have a budget deficit. where is the money going to come from? that is a question to keep in mind. dan and jerry, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >>> the aids lifecycle this june. san francisco to santa monica. it is a seven day 545 mile bicycle ride. but the event has always been billed as much more than a ride. here to talk about inon efs aids pandemic, thank you both for joining us. >> thanks for having us. >> tracy, let's start with you. the ride has been going on in some form for 30 years. this year you have 1800 riders sign up, 600 roadies. what is it that brings people out? >> the ride started as an act of activism. that spirit continues today. over the last 29 years has become community. it has bec

could also engulf a fast growing town of stratford, population. 1115 alpa population 9, 35 and allensworthopulation. 5 33. and now the heating nodding process is getting a boost from warmer mountain weather about 10 degrees above average for this time of year. so towards the end of the week, we're going to see things warm up, and with that warm up comes mar snowmelt. somewhat surprising officials really don't know how big the lake currently is. that has a huge impact on the amount of water dams can release from reservoirs to make way for the snow melt eventually. there is a risk that the reservoir releases will exceed channel capacity. it will not be as large as it was in early march. with those storms now the only figure that they could come up with is 300,000 acres that equates to about 470 square miles or a huge patch of prime farmland. 22 miles by 22 miles. but that's a critical number to know if the state and federal governments are going to be able to assist folks, farms and towns fight floods as the lake grows ever larger with snowmelt. tom baker, ktvu fox two news, tom, this was a

shows that it also engulfed fast growing stratford , population. 1115 albar, population 9, 35 and allensworth population 5, 33, and now the heating melting process is getting a boost from warmer mountain weather. about 10 degrees above average for this time of year, so towards the end of the week, we're going to see things warm up and with that warm up comes mar snowmelt. somewhat surprising officials really do not know how big the lake is. the only figure they could come up with is 300,000 acres, which equates to about 470 square miles or a huge patch of prime farmland. 22 miles by 22 miles. but that's a critical number to know if the state and federal government are going to be able to assist folks, farms and towns who fight floods. as the lake grows with snowmelt will have more of this later on. five tom baker ktvu. fox two news. okay tom, thank you for the update. and whether here in the bay area, we have certainly started to warm things up a beautiful sunny day here in the bay area and roberta. things are going to get even warmer this week. they will continue to get warmer. in fact, for