2008 GEORGIA OUTDOOR WATERING RESTRICTIONS

Updated July 9, 2008 Variances to Drought Level 4 have been approved for several water utilities. Please see table and information below. This document is updated frequently, please check often for changes. Complete variance information can be found at www.gawp.org *

55 North Georgia counties remain at Level 4 (including metro-Atlanta).
Level 4 drought response area includes Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Elbert, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Haralson, Hart, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Lincoln, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Morgan, Murray, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Rabun, Rockdale, Stephens, Towns, Troup, Union, Walker, Walton, White, Whitfield, and Wilkes counties.

The following is allowed under Level 4 Drought Restrictions:

• Established landscapes can be hand-watered by any person**

– For 25 minutes between 12:00 midnight and 10:00 a.m.
(* Hand watering is defined as one person with one garden house with a spray nozzle that shuts off automatically when it is released.-)
– Watering is restricted to the hours of 12:00 midnight to 10:00 a.m.
– Odd-numbered addresses: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
– Even-numbered addresses: Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays

• Newly installed landscapes may be watered

– By any person who has registered with the Outdoor Water Use Registration Program
– Watering is allowed for 30 days during a period of 10 weeks
– Watering is restricted to the hours of 12:00 midnight to 10:00 a.m.
– 3 days/week for 10 consecutive weeks on an odd/even schedule

– Odd-numbered addresses: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
– Even-numbered addresses: Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
– During installation, new landscapes may be watered in at any time of the day

– OutdoorWater Use Registration Program is available:

– At your county extension service office (1-800-ASK-UGA1) - free
– Online at www.urbanagcouncil.com - $ 4.95 convenience fee charge
– Each landscape company needs to register for this program (may copy certificate for use at multiple addresses).
– Each landscape company’s clients (homeowner/property owner or manager) must also complete this program for each property they own or manage.

The following activities are allowed under all drought levels by EPD Drought Management Plan

4. Commercial uses

a) Above rules for landscape installation use supercede rules that are listed in RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION CHAPTER 391-3-30 OUTDOOR WATER USE
b) Irrigation contractors: during installation and as needed for proper maintenance
and adjustments only.
c. Sod producers
d. Ornamental growers
e. Fruit and vegetable growers
f. Retail garden centers
g. Hydro-seeding
h. Power-washing
i. Construction sites (to establish vegetative cover after earth moving)
j. Producers of food and fiber
k. Car washes
l. Water needed to sustain daily business
m. Watering-in of pesticides and herbicides on turf

The following uses are PROHIBITED under Drought Level 4:

– Using hydrants for any purpose other than firefighting, public health, safety or flushing.
– Washing hard surfaces, such as streets, gutters, sidewalks, driveways, except when necessary for public health and safety
– Washing vehicles, such as cars, boats, trailers, motorbikes, airplanes, golf carts.
– Washing buildings or structures except for immediate fire protection.
– Non-commercial fund-raisers, such as car washes.
– Using water for ornamental purposes, such as fountains, reflecting pools, and waterfalls except when necessary to support aquatic life.

For complete Rules, Regulations and Exemptions please go to the website, www.gaepd.org, click on “Outdoor Water Use Schedule” and then click on “Rules for Outdoor Water Use”.

*Variances to Level 4 Drought Restrictions

Water utilities in the level 4 drought response area who do NOT depend on Lake Lanier and directly on releases from Buford Dam can petition EPD for a modified drought response (Level IVa, IVb, IVc):

Please note drought Level IV a and IV b (two days per week) allow additional watering opportunities for established installations (Level IV a - one day per week; IV b two days per week) but still require completion of the Outdoor Water Use Registration Program for new installation for 10 weeks/3 days per week watering. Level IV c allows 3 days per week watering for all landscapes; Outdoor Water Use Registration Program is not required for areas that are under Drought Level IVc.

– Level IVa - Odd/even watering 1 day per week between midnight and 10:00 am. At the discretion of the permittee, odd addresses water on Sundays or Thursdays, even addresses water on Mondays or Saturdays - Completion of Outdoor Water Use Registration Program IS required for new installation use (10 weeks/3x per week).

– Level IVb - Odd/even watering 2 days per week between midnight and 10:00 am: Odd onTuesdays and Thursdays, even on Mondays and Wednesdays. At the discretion of the permittee odd addresses may water on Thursdays and Sundays, even addresses may water on Wednesdays and Saturdays - Completion of Outdoor Water Use Registration Program IS required for new installation use (10 weeks/3x per week).

– Level IVc - Odd/even watering 3 days per week between midnight and 10:00 am: Odd on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, even on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays - Completion of Outdoor Water Use Registration Program IS NOT required.

* A full ban has been approved for a limited number of communities. Please verify specific exemptions with the local municipality if more information is needed.

_____

Name of Municipality	Level	Approval Date
Athens Clarke County	IVa	6/20/2008
Barrow County	IVa	6/20/2008
Cartersville – City of	IVa	6/26/2008
Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority	IVa	6/20/2008
Lavonia, City of	IVa	6/12/2008
Oconee County Board of Commissioners	IVa	6/20/2008
Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority	IVa	6/20/2008
_	_	_
Ball Ground, City of	IVb	6/03/2008
Canton, City of	IVb	6/20/2008
Catoosa Utility District Authority	IVb	6/4/2008
Chickamauga, City of	IVb	6/03/2008
Dawsonville, City of	IVb	6/19/2008
Floyd County	IVb	6/24/2008
Hartwell, City of	IVb	6/26/2008
LaFayette, City of	IVb	6/20/2008
Locust Grove, City of	IVb	6/20/2008
Madison, City of	IVb	6/11/2008
Madison County ID and BA Water Department	IVb	6/10/2008
Mount Vernon Mills, Inc.	IVb	6/25/2008
Polk County Water, Sewage and Solid Waste Authority	IVb	6/11/2008
Trion, Town of	IVb	6/25/2008
Walker County Water and Sewerage Authority	IVb	6/10/2008
_	_	_
Bent Tree Community	IVc	6/04/2008
Carroll County	IVc	6/09/2008
Carrollton, City of	IVc	6/06/2008
Cherokee County Water and Sewer Authority	IVc	6/03/2008
Clayton County Water Authority	IVc	6/04/2008
Commerce, City of	IVc	6/10/2008
Coweta County Water and Sewerage Authority	IVc	5/27/2008
Elberton, City of	IVc	6/15/2008
Fayette County	IVc	6/10/2008
Fort Oglethorpe, City of	IVc	6/25/2008
Henry County	IVc	6/12/2008
LaGrange, City of	IVc	6/02/2008
McDonough, City of	IVc	7/08/2008
Monroe, City of	IVc	6/24/2008
Newnan Utilities	IVc	6/02/2008
Rome, City of	IVc	6/05/2008
Stockbridge, City of	IVc	6/18/2008
Toccoa, City of	IVc	6/13/2008
Waleska, City of	IVc	7/09/2008
_	_	_
Sky Valley, City of	FULL BAN	6/25/2008

60 central Georgia counties are now at Drought Level 2, including 6 counties who have been moved from Level 4 to Level 2 (Muscogee, Harris, Spalding, Butts, Jasper and Greene counties). The Outdoor Water Use Registration Program is not required under Drought Level
2. If your county has gone to Drought Level Two you must revert back to the language found in the Outdoor Water Use rule: http://www.gaepd.org/Files_PDF/rules/rules_exist/391-3-30.pdf

Drought Level 2

New landscapes may be watered for 30 consecutive days between midnight and 10 am. Professionally installed new landscapes have a commercial exemption and may be watered anytime of day for 30 consecutive days. Existing landscapes in Drought Level Two may be watered from midnight until 10 am on the odd even system.

– Level 2 drought response area includes Atkinson, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Burke, Butts, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Coffee, Columbia, Crawford, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Glascock, Greene, Hancock, Harris, Houston, Irwin, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Lamar, Lee, Macon, Marion, Mc Duffie, Monroe, Muscogee, Peach, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Quitman, Randolph, Richmond, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Tift, Turner, Twiggs, Upson, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wilcox, Wilkinson, and Worth counties.

44 middle and south Georgia counties are now at Drought Level 1
Drought Level one is the least restrictive level and outdoor water may be used between midnight and 10 am and 4 pm to midnight on the odd/even house number system.