Escalon residents are being encouraged to be “water wise” during the summer, as we wind our way not only through a drought but also some triple digit heat from time to time.

Officials noted that the first six months of the water year for the region ranked as the fourth driest on record. Typically, summer also brings an increase in demand on the city’s water system.

To that end, officials remind residents to set any landscape watering system to run during the early morning hours, between midnight and 4 a.m.

There are also some specific guidelines for summer water use, issued by the city. Those include: No watering on Mondays, No outdoor watering between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.; No use of water hoses without a shut-off nozzle.

Additionally the city requests that residents not hose off debris from sidewalks and driveways after taking care of your lawn and garden. Rather than using the hose, residents are asked to sweep fertilizer, soil or other debris from their sidewalks and driveways instead of using the hose. The water flow can wash the pollutants into storm drains that will carry them into streams, rivers and lakes. It’s recommended to wash cars on the grass rather than in the street, again so soapy water does not flow directly into the storm drains.

On another water front, the cities of Escalon and Ripon, in cooperation with the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, are planning a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act ‘Question and Answer’ session, with the South San Joaquin Groundwater Sustainability Agency. The meeting is set for Thursday, July 22 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., in the Ripon City Council Chambers. Attendees will receive updates on the SGMA and see what the future for groundwater sustainability looks like in the region.