The head of the local water conservation agency told Hollister council members Monday that although the area has experienced about 12 inches of precipitation this rainy season, it wasn’t nearly enough to get the community out of the four-year drought.
The latest storms that started Friday dropped a sum of 2.39 inches in the Hollister area, bringing the seasonal precipitation total to an amount equaling that of an entire, average rain season, according to a National Weather Service forecaster.
It's about to get more expensive to take a shower or use the bathroom in San Juan Bautista. Mission City officials also put questions out there as to why districts such as Hollister and Sunnyslope continue to use tiered rate structures despite a recent court ruling, in San Juan Capistrano, barring the practice.
Is the grass greener on the other side? It shouldn’t be with the water restrictions we have all been given. Now well into summer, we have visual proof of what a serious California drought looks like in our own yards and neighborhoods. This is a hot topic. The Santa Clara Valley Water District reports that many homeowners are taking advantage of the rebate program to replace their lawns. I have heard the pros and mostly cons of replacing lawn with artificial turf. Recently, I saw a video of a company that uses a plant-based green dye to temporarily color your lawn until the rains come down, wash it away and bring back that luscious green we all dream about.
With landscapes drying up in California’s drought conditions, local water districts are contending with something else drying up with them—revenues.
The long rolls of turf to the left of this house are about to become the green lawn of Hollister resident Kathy Provost’s dreams. But the grass is not the kind Provost thought she would cultivate on the family’s country property.
Hollister, San Juan, the county board and Sunnyslope water district are considering resolutions this week establishing new rules related to the state’s mandatory water cutback of at least 25 percent.