The last couple of days brought a change of pace with weather that is usually quite common for this time of year – rain. With the recent drought, though, local government officials are cautioning that the city and county aren’t out of the woods yet. “Even if we continue to get more rain, we’re still behind in the normal amount of rainfall,” said Jim Hart, the head of the city’s public works department.
According to the National Weather Service, rain is in the forecast for Hollister throughout the weekend.
Hart this morning said the rain had not significantly affected public works operations.
“We’re in pretty good shape because our groundwater (wells) are being managed pretty well,” said Shawn Novack, the water conservation program manager at the Hollister Urban Area Water District.
Last month, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency in the state and called on residents to voluntarily reduce water use by 20 percent. Last week, state officials announced that local agencies would not be receiving water from the State Water Project, operated by the California Department of Water Resources, due to the drought.
“There’s a lot of incentive (from the state) to practice water conservation and best management practices,” Hart said. “We’re still encouraging voluntary conservation.”
Novack echoed those remarks.
“California has been pretty good about conserving water on years of drought,” he said. “But on years when we have more rainfall, we go back to our old ways. We need to conserve all the time.”
Novack said the San Benito County Water District Board of Directors expects to consider a water shortage emergency at a hearing Feb. 18. If the board approves the resolution, the district will implement a Water Shortage Contingency Plan that would call for some voluntary and some mandatory rationing of water depending on severity of water supplies usage.
But even with the expected rainfall and conservation efforts, city and county officials can only hope more rain comes.
“We’re continuing to pray for more rain,” Hart said.
