| Work Detail |
The state-mandated drought water conservation targets that Hanford and Lemoore have struggled to try to meet are being suspended. Hanford officials got word last week that the state mandate of a 23 percent reduction in water use has effectively dropped to 0 percent thanks to a more lenient approach the state adopted in light of increased rain and snow last winter. Lemoore officials have also received confirmation that their conservation mandate is now effectively 0 percent. So does this mean that local residents can go wild, hand-spraying sidewalks and watering lawns whenever they want? Not on your life, officials say. We don''t want to go backward, said Deputy Hanford Public Works Director John Doyel. We don''t have any intention of changing any of our rules or relieving any of the restrictions we have in place. The two-day-a-week watering limitation in Hanford and Lemoore will continue, as will the ban on spray washing sidewalks and driveways, the requirement that you wash your car with an automatic shut-off nozzle and the prohibition against sprinkler water running off lawns onto the sidewalk/into the gutter. The new state approach is to allow cities to figure out for themselves how much they need to conserve. The new formula required city officials to calculate if they have enough water to get through three consecutive drought years. With a huge reserve in the underground aquifer that supplies local residents, it was easy for Hanford and Lemoore officials to demonstrate they had enough to meet the standard. That doesn''t mean that the two cities are off the hook as far as the state is concerned. State law requires the cities to demonstrate a 20 percent water use reduction by 2020. The baseline years for calculating that reduction are 2005-2010. Doyel said that if the city maintains about a 15 percent water use reduction going forward, it will likely satisfy the standard by 2020. Last month, the city conserved by about 18 percent. If we don''t conserve, we won''t achieve our 20 percent reduction, and it could have consequences for the city, Doyel said. Doyel said the state could easily reinstate a tougher mandate, especially if this coming winter is a dry one. That point was echoed by Lemoore officials. We still want to be cautious, said Lemoore City Manager Andi Welsh. It''s been a very dry summer, and there''s no prediction for an El Nino year. The possibility of more drought isn''t the only concern. The state is slowly implementing a landmark law, adopted in 2014, that will require overdrafted groundwater basins like the one under Hanford and Lemoore to come into a sustainable balance by 2040. That means officials will have to show that they are replacing the water they are taking out of the ground for homes, businesses and farms. That is even more far reaching than the [23 percent conservation mandate], said Hanford Public Works Director Lou Camara. We''re starting that process. We''re going to have to live with less water going forward. That''s going to be a whole different world, Doyel said. We don''t know what that''s going to do to us. Just reverting back to the old way of doing things doesn''t appear to be a smart course of action. We''re not out of the woods yet on saving water, said Hanford Vice Mayor Francisco Ramirez. The simple fact is, we don''t know if we''re going to have another drought or if there will be another mandate next year or the following year. |
