Ashley Lee was a second grader Hicks Canyon Elementary School in Irvine when her poster was selected by Irvine Ranch Water District for participation in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s 2015 “Water is Life” regional contest last spring.

IRWD received more than 300 entries and sent five finalists to Metropolitan for judging. Now a third grader, Ashley was among 36 students from Southern California whose poster was chosen to appear in MWD’s 2015 calendar.

The student artists were honored at Metropolitan on December 11. IRWD has participated in the contest since inception and has had at least one winner each year.

The 36 posters will be featured in a traveling art show set up in the lobbies of participating water districts, including IRWD at the end of June. Please visit www.irwd.com for an announcement of the arrival of the student art show. At the conclusion of the road show, IRWD will be sent Ashley’s framed poster and she will be honored at a Board of Directors meeting.

Much-need rain has fallen in the area recently, but that does not signal the end of the drought. It will take more than one storm dropping one to two inches of rain on the area to clear up three years and nine months of extreme drought.

Recent storms are quite literally a drop in the bucket when it comes to solving the state’s water issues. Experts say that dry, thirsty soil, which had been deprived of water for so long, blotted up the rain like a sponge, not allowing enough moisture to percolate and recharge groundwater basins.

The state Department of Water Resources states that October 2013 through September 2014 has been one of the driest years in decades. California heavily depends on the Sierra snowpack for its water supply. DWR conducts snow surveys and the first four conducted in early 2014 found a water equivalent far below average for the dates of the surveys. Rainfall is measured at eight stations in the northern part of the state where the rivers feed into the State Water Project.

Electronic readings from those Northern California stations showed that precipitation was only 60 percent of normal for late April, even though there were a few storms in February and March. The electronic readings for San Joaquin stations show less than 50 percent of normal from October 1, 2013, to late May 2014.

So how long will it take to recover from the drought? There are no hard and fast numbers, according to DWR. An exceptionally wet year would be needed, but it looks unlikely, according to DWR.

As part of our all new RightScape program, IRWD is reminding customers to adjust their irrigation controllers and sprinkler times when daylight saving time ends on Nov. 2. Roger is doing it, and you should too!

Daylight saving spring and fall clock changes actually coincides with seasonal changes in weather. That’s when irrigation controllers and sprinkler times should change. It’s time to lower your water use as the weather cools, humidity increases and we have potential for rain.

Checking your irrigation controller when you change your clocks is a good habit to get into. It’s a great time to check your sprinklers for leaks, too.

Let’s all work together for water efficiency! Post a picture of yourself changing your sprinkler settings to our facebook page (facebook.com/IrvineRanchWaterDistrict) or email it to rightscape@irwd.com. Three people will win a $50 Home Depot gift card. Everyone that enters can pick up a complimentary sprinkler key in the IRWD Sand Canyon office lobby.

Contest ends December 15.