Gwinnett County residents will be allowed to fill swimming pools this spring, but whether they'll be allowed the limited amount of outdoor watering authorized recently by state officials remains to be seen.

The county will go along with the state's decision to allow North Georgia residents to fill swimming pools, said Ron Peters, deputy director of the county's Division of Water Resources.

But allowing the "hand-watering" permitted by the state exemptions could push the county too close to the edge of the 10 percent reduction in water usage required by the state.

"It certainly wouldn't help it," Peters said.

The discussion over watering restrictions comes as the County Commission is set to consider a resolution clarifying County Manager Jock Connell's authority to declare an emergency should Lake Lanier drop so low that county drinking water supplies are threatened.

The resolution will be considered as part of an update to the county's drought contingency plan that goes before the commission on Tuesday.

The emergency powers would give Connell the ability to act without delay in deploying barges equipped with pumps and hoses on the lake to keep water flowing into the county system.

"If the water level in the lake approaches our intake elevation, then we've got to be able to move quickly to get a barge out there and a temporary line," said Jim Scarborough, technical assistant to the director of the water resources department.

In the short term, that contractor is likely to be W.L. Hailey and Co., a firm already working at the lake, Scarborough said.

Longer term, the county wants to put the work out to a competitive bid, but the risk of going without water is too great to go through the lengthy bidding process, he said.

There are no other major changes to the contingency plan, which still calls for following state guidelines.

"We just need to be able to move quickly; that is what this is all about," he said.

Peters said water officials may make a decision on the watering restrictions early this week.

The new state rules, which go into effect April 1, allow residents to use a garden hose with a handheld nozzle to water on an odd-even schedule between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.

Currently, outdoor watering is prohibited under the state's rules. State law allows cities and counties to enact rules that are more strict than the state's.