GEORGIA'S WATER CRISIS:
Outdoor rules could change in July

By Stacy Shelton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/26/08

With the 2-year-old drought likely to worsen over the summer, Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch told Georgians Wednesday to continue conserving water.

But she has no immediate plans to tighten outdoor water restrictions. That could change in July, after she reviews water use data and drought conditions.

"In July, if we see excessive usage, we'll look at revisiting outdoor water restrictions and tightening them where we're not seeing responsible use of water," Couch said.

Right now, the state's most vulnerable water source is Lake Lanier. Other, much smaller reservoirs in North Georgia were able to rebound with the winter rains. But Lanier, which supplies water to more than 3 million metro Atlantans, is 14.4 feet below full and falling. This time last year it was 5.4 feet below full.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Lanier, water flowing into the lake from its rivers and streams is less than one-fifth the normal amount for June.

State climatologist David Stooksbury had more bad news:

Extreme drought conditions, expected only once every 50 years, are creeping back across northeast Georgia into the watershed that feeds Lanier.

On Wednesday, the Chattahoochee River near Cornelia, upstream from where it flows into the lake, set a record low for that date. The old record was set in 1986.

Soil moisture levels in North Georgia are extremely low for this time of year.

Also, Gainesville, the Hall County city on Lanier, has received only 1 inch of rain this month. Normally by June 24, it has received 3 inches.

In February, the state began loosening the wintertime, near-total ban on outdoor water use under pressure from landscapers, sod growers and retail garden centers. The lawn and garden industry estimated it lost more than $3 billion and 35,000 jobs last year because of the drought and rules against outdoor water use.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin was on hand at Wednesday's news conference to remind Couch that the state's landscape industry has borne the brunt of the drought's financial impact.

"We can't have a total cutoff [of outdoor water] like we had before," he said. "We really devastated our horticulture industry."

WATER RULES

In metro Atlanta, homeowners can water using a hand-held garden hose up to 25 minutes a day between midnight and 10 a.m. on three days a week. Odd-numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; even-numbered addresses can water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The rules are more lenient for new landscapes. Check with your local water provider for details.

For more information, go to www.georgiadrought.org; www.georgiaweather.net; www.cocorahs.org; ga.water.usgs.gov; and www.conservewatergeorgia.net.

WATER USE DOWN

Comparing May of this year to May 2007, 27 percent less water was withdrawn from Lake Lanier and the upper Chattahoochee River by metro Atlanta cities and counties, according to state data.