(Grass Valley May 12) - Drought conditions continue to escalate, yet customers of the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) used more water last month than in any previous April despite the request for conservation.

When District Directors declared a drought emergency last month, customers were asked to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10 percent. Despite that appeal, water use by treated water customers increased by 10 percent.

“Obviously April was hot and dry. The winds were picking up. Vegetation was drying out fast. And people are getting nervous about fire season. As a result, they watered more,” said Greg Jones, interim general manager.

During an NID Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, May 12, the message was repeated that everyone needs to be especially mindful about how much water they use on a daily basis.

NID Operations Manager Chip Close noted that Directors will receive an update during their next board meeting on May 26: “We will provide all the updated water supply numbers as well as the potential purchase of PG&E water to help supplement storage.”