Water conservation still important despite future El Nino

Water conservation efforts across California are paying off. According to the State Water Resources Control Board, it’s newest numbers released from August show 97% of California Water Districts have met their required conservation standard within 5%.

But that doesn’t mean the drought is over anytime soon. Even with the expected strong El Nino this winter, we still need to be conserving water.

“The occurrence of rain from January through March doesn’t mean that we’re out of a drought, we can very well still be in a drought condition” says Dave Stoldt of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District.

9 out of 12 water districts on the Central Coast have met or exceeded their conservation goal. Watsonville and Soledad were about 2.5% below their goals, and Greenfield did not provide a report.

Despite those efforts, it’s going to take much more than the occasional shower, or even an El Nino, to replenish our water supply.

“It’ll take about 150% of normal rain to replenish the snow pack in the Sierra, but temperatures in the Sierra are higher than normal. So chances are you might not get the snow pack you need to alleviate the the drought state wide” says Stoldt.

While the amount of rain we will receive in the future is still unknown, many residents say they will continue good habits throughout the year. The hope is that hard work will continue to pay off, reducing the chances of a 5th year drought.