Winter is coming and with it comes a new City of Turlock watering schedule that will only allow for outdoor watering one day a week.

The City of Turlock is introducing the winter watering schedule, which goes into effect Nov. 1 and will last through Feb. 28, 2016. Those with even numbered addresses will be allowed to water on Saturdays and those with odd number addresses can water on Sundays. No watering is allowed on either days from noon to 6 p.m.

The City is hoping that residents will decide to forgo even the one day of watering. Many plants die off in during the fall and winter, when the daylight hours are shorter and the temperatures cooler. Others go into a dormant stage, requiring far less water.

"Turlock has done a great job of conserving water this summer, but we can't end our efforts as we enter the winter months," said Mayor Gary Soiseth. "Despite warming temperatures in our oceans that could possibly result in more precipitation, there is no guarantee that our region will receive the much needed rain and snow to end the drought. We must remain committed to wisely using our current groundwater source and investing in new sources of water for the future."

Turlock has yet to reach the 32 percent reduction in water usage mandated by the State Water Resources Control Board. In April Gov. Jerry Brown issued a mandate that the state reduce water usage by 25 percent. The regulation uses a sliding scale for setting conservation standards, so that communities that have already reduced their residential gallons per capita per day through past conservation will have lower mandates than those that have not made such gains since the last major drought. Each month, the SWRB compares every urban water supplier’s water use with their use for the same month in 2013 to determine if they are on track for meeting their conservation standard.

In August, Turlock had a savings of 26.3 percent, which was a drop from the 27 percent saved in July. In June the city recorded a savings of 19.2 percent.