Island County residents should take the governor’s statewide advice and be careful not to use too much water this spring.

The few recent days of rain have done little to lessen the unusually dry beginning to the year, nor has it added much to the snowpack in the Cascades.

City of Oak Harbor and Island County officials are advising conservation, though to their credit they’re not being alarmist about a coming water crisis. What we have in surface water from the Skagit River and from the ground water should be sufficient without drastically changing our lifestyles.

But some lifestyle changes would be prudent, and they’re pretty obvious. Wash full loads of clothes, fix leaky faucets, water lawns minimally, keep plants alive using no more water than what they really need, and skip a car wash from time to time.

If the weather gets even drier, we can step up our conservation. If, as is more likely, the weather returns to normal, enjoy washing your car in a warm August rain.