Wednesday, September 3, 2003
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Wednesday, September 3, 2003 |
State may cut out Friday outdoor watering next year; Fayette may propose alternate method soonBy JOHN
MUNFORD
With the dog days of summer just about outta here and a relatively wet summer at that restrictions on outdoor watering might be the furthest thing from the minds of most people. But not Fayette County's Water Committee. That's because new "voluntary" guidelines on water restrictions have been recommended by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division that would keep anyone from watering on Fridays. That means no lawn sprinklers, no car washing nothing. Instead, residents will be allowed to water on a Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday schedule or a Saturday-Monday-Wednesday schedule. The now "voluntary" guidelines could become permanent next spring as another layer of drought prevention, and that has committee members worried. Water system director Tony Parrott suggested the committee try to develop an alternative to the state's plan which Fayette could use. He suggested possibly reducing the hours each day that residents could water instead of cutting out all Friday watering. "We've had odd-even watering in place since 1986, and it has been working well," Parrott said, adding that the county enforces the watering restrictions but hasn't had to issue any citations because everyone complies with the restrictions. Some older automatic water sprinkling systems might not be able to be programmed to the new schedule, Parrott added. "I understand they're trying to give the tanks a rest," said committee chairman Chuck Watkins. "But odd-even watering works so good." Parrott said he would be in contact with the state's drinking water program about modifying a special program for Fayette County.
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