State eases water rules, but urges restraint

Turn on the Slip-N-Slide. Run through the sprinkler. Just don’t leave it on all day.

State officials relaxed watering restrictions Wednesday, saying a rainy spring has refreshed groundwater, raised the pool in Lake Lanier and rehydrated North Georgia.

In short, “The drought is over,” said Carol Couch, director of the Georgia Environmental protection division.

But some restrictions remain in place, and state officials said it’s important for Georgians to keep using the conservation habits that helped significantly cut water use over the past 2 1/2 years.

Still, the change is welcome news to Robin White, a middle school teacher from Covington, whose daughter Jade and a friend, Jada Cherry, played in the fountain at Centennial Olympic Park under appropriately drizzly skies.

White said she considers the drought over, “As long as the water keeps coming down from up there,” gesturing to the rolling gray clouds overhead. “I’m still trying to figure out what day I’m supposed to water and what day I’m not supposed to water.”

The answer is: Any time you like, during your allotted three days a week.

Those days are still based on street addresses — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for even-numbered addresses; Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday for odd-numbered addresses. Until now, homeowners have been restricted to watering only an hour, at most, during those days.

Under the relaxed rules, there’s no time limit. Water officials still request that Georgians use soaker hoses and refrain from watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. But that’s only a suggestion.

The State Drought Response Committee approved Couch’s recommendation that Georgia move to non-drought water rules. Those rules also permit using regular sprinklers, rather than soaker hoses, and they permit car-washing.

Many outdoor water features were shut down during the worst months of the drought, including some public pools and the Centennial Park fountain, but most of those attractions are back online.

Couch noted that water use dropped 15 percent in the past 2 1/2 years under Level 4 restrictions, even though the goal was 10 percent.

Gov. Sonny Perdue echoed his hope that Georgians will keep conserving. In a news conference about the changes, Perdue said he expects they will, declaring “by, golly, it’s time for trust.”

The news conference was at the Governor’s Mansion on West Paces Ferry Road, where Perdue unveiled a new front garden with a water-sipping irrigation system. It was designed and installed by volunteer organizations.

Featuring boxwoods, begonias, junipers, day lilies and many other drought-resistant plants, the garden features a drip, soaker-hose system that greatly reduces evaporation and delivers water directly to plant roots. One way or another, he said, Georgians must continue “the culture of conservation.”

“We were faced with the drought,” Perdue said, “which, I think, was a wake-up call. I would hope that Georgia would continue, on a continuing basis, to educate itself and hold each other accountable.

“I liken it, frankly, to seatbelts,” he said. “This is a generational, educational issue.”

Some environmentalists worry the state moved too quickly in easing restrictions.

“Due to the fact that Lake Lanier is still four feet below full pool and there isn’t enough water in the Chattahoochee to support fishing and recreation and we’re not meeting flow target, we definitely believe it’s irresponsible to withdraw watering restrictions,” said Juliet Cohen, general counsel for the Upper Chattahoochee River Keepers.

“Water conservation needs to become a way of life whether we’re in an emergency-level drought or it’s raining outside. We have an ever-growing population and a finite amount of water.”

Georgia Conservancy President Pierre Howard, a former lieutenant governor, said there is “always the danger” of going back to old habits.

“Georgia has come to a point in its history in growing… that it has to be a leader in water conservation,” Howard said.

Contributing: Aaron Gould Sheinen, Rhonda Cook and April Hunt.