URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Even before today’s moderate drought declaration, Gibson City was the first to set water restrictions. But if conditions don’t improve, it won’t be the last.

“We are unusually dry for this time of year, and we are starting to see impacts,” said Trent Ford, Illinois State Climatologist.

Central Illinois is rolling into summer with less than half of its spring rainfall. Now lawns, crops, and natural vegetation are dying for moisture.

Sola Gratia Farm Manager John Williams says he has to drive close to a thousand gallons of water to his vegetable field nearly five times a day and even that isn’t enough.

“What we had to do is shift some of our crops back to the original acre where the well is,” said Williams.

He says he’s expecting his crops to be at least two weeks behind because of it.

Ford says we may see pop-up showers over the next week or so, but the entire area will need much more than that.

“This is kind of the way things go with drought in Central Illinois is we start to see the lawns, the young trees first start to show the signs then the crops then the water resources,” said Ford.

But the problem at Sola Gratia Farm is a third of these crops go to food banks.

“This kind of weather will limit us in the short run for what we have available for those avenues of donation, but hopefully in the long run we’ll make up for it,” said Williams.