Lack of Rain in Georgia Means Tougher Watering Rules

A drought declaration this week increased restrictions on outdoor water use by Georgia residents, and businesses are also feeling the heat.

Landscaping companies and nurseries are making fewer sales because of the lack of rain and inability of their customers to water their purchases.

"People tend to not want to put new plants in the ground when they can't water them," says Harry Bethea, owner of Bannister Creek Nursery in Duluth.

Although Bethea said sales tend to dip in the summer every year, the recent dry spell has had a "dramatic effect" on top of the usual slowness.

Businesses such as car washes and nurseries remain exempt from any water bans or restrictions. In addition, landscapers laying new sod and plants can irrigate for 30 days.

But that doesn't mean businesses are unaffected by the drought. Sales at Randy's Nursery in Lawrenceville plummeted during the last drought four years ago, nursery worker Sean Miller says.

"That was a huge impact on our sales," he says. "They went down dramatically."

Despite fewer sales, the nursery needs to use more water in times of drought, increasing expenses.

"We frequently have to water the same plants three or four times a day," Miller says.

Boston Maintenance and Lawncare in Buford hasn't had a single customer in the past two weeks, Diane Boston says. "If you cut the grass, it's going to die," she says.

Gwinnett County used 124.2 million gallons of water Monday, the largest amount in a single day this summer. But the county is permitted to draw 150 million gallons from Lake Lanier, making it highly unlikely any total water ban would be put in place.

"We're not getting close to exceeding our permitted withdraw capacity from the lake," Gwinnett Department of Water Resources Deputy Director of Operations and Administration Hazel McMullin says.

DeKalb and Cherokee counties banned all outdoor water use by residents beginning midnight Wednesday. Forsyth County also instituted a ban from June 11-16 and has threatened to reinstitute the ban as water tank levels plummet.

Since Gwinnett has not instituted a total ban like its neighbors, outdoor water use is prohibited only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also, as per general state regulations created in 2003, residents can only water their lawns every other day. Apartment complexes are also expected to abide by the increased restrictions, McMullin says.

The Department of Water Resources is expected to step up its enforcement of water regulations in response to the drought declaration. If informative fliers and repeated warnings aren't effective, McMullin says, "We'll just shut it off at the meter."

Georgia Farm Bureau marking specialist Joe McManus says it's been a particularly bad summer for Georgia farmers, with dry land corn crops "virtually gone."

Irrigated crops have fared better, he said, but are increasingly expensive to produce because the cost of irrigation has risen alongside fuel prices.

"Any crop (farmers) do make is going to be an expensive crop," McManus says. "They'll have a lot of money in it."