If the state officially declares a drought, these restrictions kick in:
Level One drought: Requires public water systems to educate customers about conditions and encourage conservation.
Level Two drought: Limits outdoor watering to two days a week on a schedule based on address numbers. Even-numbered addresses may water Wednesdays and Saturdays (4 p.m. to 10 a.m.) and odd-numbered addresses may water Thursdays and Sundays (4 p.m. to 10 a.m.). No water can be used for outdoor fountains, car washes or power washing of homes.
Level Three drought: Prohibits all outdoor landscape irrigation. Food gardens may be watered between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. (Soaker hoses and drip irrigation may be used anytime.) Hand watering and golf course irrigation are limited.
Metro Atlanta hasn’t seen much change in drought conditions in the past week.
But North Georgia and South Georgia areas will likely see some variation, according to the National Weather Service.
Before Tropical Storm Hermine hit much of south and southeast Georgia early Friday, North Georgia areas were getting heavier rainfall, and more South Georgia areas were experiencing drought conditions.
“That trend likely gets reversed now,” meteorologist Rich Tinker said.
Dry conditions in Georgia as a whole became more widespread over the past week.
Just more than 81 percent of Georgia was in some sort of drought as of Wednesday, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Katie Walls said. That’s up from last week, when about 74 percent of Georgia was in some sort of drought.
“In the last week, we’ve seen the abnormally dry area expand, while moderate, severe and extreme drought areas have varied less than 1 percent,” Walls said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor categorizes dryness using a scale ranging from abnormally dry to “exceptional” in intensity. “Extreme” is the second-most severe classification, and no Georgia areas are in the most intense “exceptional” category.
As for Lake Lanier, which is Atlanta’s source of drinking water, the Friday level was at 1,066.14 feet, slightly higher than last Thursday. The full pool level for summer is 1,071 feet.
Rainfall last seven days: 1.94
Rainfall this month: 0.97
Rainfall deficit for the year: 3.87
Values in inches as of end of day Thursday
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