By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Ceres wont be offering an extra watering day
U5fudJ7
Ceres residents will only be able to continue to water outdoors two days a week. The city is not able to expand watering days like the city of Modesto. - photo by Contributed to the Courier

Plentiful rains that have fallen this rainfall season may have filled reservoirs and caused the city of Modesto to give its residents an extra day of outdoor watering each week but the city of Ceres is not looking to follow suit.

City Manager Toby Wells said that at this time, the city is not considering going back to allowing three days of watering per week versus the two allowed today.

"One of the significant differences between Ceres and Modesto is the source of water," said Wells. "We are completely dependent on groundwater where Modesto has a surface water component. As such, although the governor declared the drought to be over, that may be true from a surface water perspective, however, the impact on the groundwater will not recover for many years."

He said conservation will continue to be a focus of the city since overdrafting of the water table often means difficulty meeting the ever-changing state and federal standards.

"The two-day-a-week allowance is a critical component to continue to meet our long term water conservation goals."

Modesto residents enjoy sources of water from the ground as well as treated water from Modesto Reservoir. Ceres is in the process of tapping into the Tuolumne River for a surface water source of drinking water.