Living in a rural area has its benefits, but can also bring several difficulties, like long commute times or perhaps difficulties maintaining running water.

For some residents of the West Dallas County community Bogue Chitto, running water can become scarce in warmer, summer months, when water wells dry up and begin spewing sand.

County commisioner Larry Nickels, who is leading the charge for running water, wasnts to secure 100 commitments. It may not seem like a daunting task, but in Bogue Chitto, there may not be 100 people, much less 100 houses.

Switching to the West Dallas County Water Authority may not be ideal for the Bogue Chitto residents that haven’t signed up. Some may have a reliable deep-water well and haven’t experienced problems. Others are less fortunate and are forced to repair and flush the water wells whenver sand starts speweing from faucets.

Each person has the right to choose whether a switch is the right move for his or her family, but a water system will bring Bogue Chitto into the 21st century, but the most important consideration should be safety.

With running water, fire hydrants can be placed on street corners and, in turn, fighting house fires will become easier.