Local water agencies are carrying out the governor’s requirement to cut use by 25 percent, and one official warned about restrictions on yard irrigation and sidewalk runoff.
Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered San Benito County and others throughout the state to cut use by 25 percent, from 2013 levels, due to the four-year drought and its effect on dwindling water supplies.
Although many details must be ironed out at the state level, the Water Resources Association of San Benito County is set to handle enforcement of the local rules, said Shawn Novack, the agency’s program manager. Novack said he expects the state to have a final order in place at some point in May.
“All the things he has in there,” Novack said of the governor, “it’s kind of ambiguous how it’s going to pan out.”
Novack mentioned, for instance, how municipal and industrial users such as Ridgemark Golf & Country Club already cut back use by 75 percent due to prior, decreased allocations for federally imported “blue valve” water.
Novack on Friday morning met with Hollister City Manager Bill Avera and Sunnyslope Water District General Manager Don Ridenhour to discuss a cutback roll-out. The Hollister City Council is scheduled to consider an official action April 20, with Sunnyslope directors following suit the next day, said Novack, who expressed concern about the challenge of an immediate decrease of that size.
Novack said when he approaches residents violating the current restrictions, most people merely don’t understand the rules.
As for the new restrictions, Novack pointed to irrigation rules likely affecting everyday residents—such as a limit of twice weekly for watering lawns.
With enforcement, Novack said water agencies will depend, in large part, on community members who report violations.
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