Drought done, restrictions remain

It’s official, the drought is over. Gov. Jerry Brown ended the state of emergency for the majority of the California Friday, but wastefulness is still not allowed.

Even with all the rain the state had this winter along with snow packed mountains we can still see from the desert floor, don’t expect the rules and regulations to change.

“We are really focused on long term water use efficiency, what we are trying to do is manage our supplies in a reliable way going forward,” said Katie Evans, conservation manager for the Coachella Valley Water District.

CVWD doesn’t have any plans to change the current restrictions at this time.

“We currently have a 10 to 13 percent conservation goal and that is really for long term sustainability so that likely won’t change,” said Ashley Metzger, outreach and conservation manager for Desert Water Agency.

Some small changes might be made after the next DWA board meeting on Tuesday April 18th at 8 a.m. when the board could decide to either keep or roll back some restrictions.

Both CVWD and DWA still have funding for rebate programs to save water, such as switching from grass to desert landscape.

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