EPD: local water providers can sack rules if they deem necessary; lawn watering and car, pressure washing still off limits

Beginning April 1, Coweta residents will be allowed to water landscaping planting by hand for up to 25 minutes from midnight to 10 a.m. every other day on an odd-even schedule, according to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office.

Residents also will be allowed to fill up their pools in an effort to prevent the pools from becoming breeding grounds for mosquitos, state environmental officials said. Also, new landscaping can be watered for up to 10 weeks at three times a week between midnight and 10 a.m. if they have taken an online course about watering techniques.

Still banned will be lawn watering, car washing, home pressure washing and other outdoor watering prohibited under the current total outdoor watering ban.

Plus, the April watering exceptions may vaporize into thin air at the rule of local water providers, Chambers noted. They have the power to deny any of the latest exemptions.

“Some of them may say, ‘we just can’t afford to do this,” Chambers said.

Citizens shouldn’t misinterpret the changes as a signal the drought is over, because it’s not over at all, said Georgia Environmental Protection Division spokesman Kevin Chambers.

“We still have an exceptional to extreme drought,” in the 61-county region that includes metro Atlanta, Chambers said.

Gov. Perdue’s requirement for water providers to cut usage from 10 percent compared to figures from last year is still intact, officials said.

The pool-filling regulation will also prevent structural problems with pools, which can be damaged if left unfilled, Chambers added.

The new landscaping regulation will allow the use of automated sprinkler systems such as in-ground systems, but they can only be used to irrigate the newly-installed irrigation and not other existing vegetation, Chambers said. Existing vegetation must be watered only by hand using the one water hose with a shut-off nozzle.

“These steps will give consumers confidence to buy and plant new trees and shrubbery,” said Governor Perdue. “It will give retailers confidence to stock these items, and it will give producers confidence to grow them. This action will lend renewed strength to the landscaping industry in Georgia.”

More information about the drought and water conservation can be found at www.georgiaepd.com and www.conservewatergeorgia.net.

Governor Perdue praised the work of the Georgia Agribusiness Council in helping craft the Statewide Water Management Plan, which received final passage in the State Senate Wednesday.

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