Fresno and Clovis urge residents to stop watering lawns in the rain

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Lawns and landscaping have been getting regular drenching's but in Fresno the city's watering restrictions are being ignored.

Communications Director Mark Standriff says the city is still fighting residents who water their lawns despite the weather and restrictions. "We still have a significant number of people out there who are still turning their irrigation systems on during the work week. And on top of that, there are still maybe a couple of hundred people who are watering every single day."

Winter watering in Fresno and Clovis is supposed to be just one day a week, and under state regulations, no outside watering is allowed during or 48 hours after a significant rainfall. But in the city of Clovis, Public Works Director Luke Serpa says not everyone is getting the water saving message. "We are still under the state's orders to save 36-percent we are still requiring all of our residents to conserve 36-percent"

According to state figures Fresno and Clovis made their conservation goals for November. Fresno cut water use more than 30-percent with each resident using an average of about 72 gallons of water per day. Clovis met the 36-percent cut with the average resident using more than 91 gallons a day. But Standriff acknowledges cutting back on indoor water use is tough. "There's only so much you can do indoors, you have to take showers, do dishes do laundry."

So the focus is on getting outdoor irrigation stopped when it's not needed. Residents are being reminded to turn off or adjust their automatic sprinkler controllers. Serpa says no point in wasting water when it's raining. "It's a bit ironic to be talking water conservation when we are handing out sandbags, but it's California. "