Expect water conservation to ease somewhat in the Nevada Irrigation District this summer, thanks to one of the wetter and snowiest winters on record. But Water Operations Manager Chip Close says most customers have now adopted savings habits as a way of life, after three of the driest years also recently occurred…

click to listen to Chip Close

Starting in July of 2021, Governor Newsom called on water users to voluntarily cut back by 15-percent, compared to 2020. That was rescinded in March. Statewide savings was only about half of that benchmark, or seven-percent. Close says NID customers saved only four-percent, overall, from July through September of 2021, when the drought was not as severe. But as precipitation levels dropped below average again in 2022, conservation during that same period was 16-percent. And this summer, he says canal water use should also go up…

click to listen to Chip Close

The Newsom administration said it wanted to focus on targeted drought responses, based on local conditions, instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach.