Revisiting House Bill 1281 – Georgia Water Restrictions
How many of you are adhering to the water restriction rules as set forth in bill 1281? I’ve highlighted the rules below as a refresher. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that many of you are following even tighter restrictions, it’s a great way to save a few bucks in this tough economy if you can limit your water bill.
- No sprinklers. Use a hand-held garden hose with an automatic shut-off only. Only one hose at a time.
- Water three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays for houses with odd-numbered addresses and Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays for houses with even-numbered addresses.
- Water between midnight and 10 a.m.
- Water for 25 minutes only.
- More liberal rules for new landscaping allow sprinklers for ten weeks after planting new grass, shrubs, trees and flowers, on the three-day schedule and limited hours.
- To use the more lenient rules, homeowners must be certified through an on-line course given by the Georgia Urban Agriculture Council at www.urbanagcouncil.com. Certification is also available from each county’s extension agent.
Tags: Bill 1281, Water Bill, Water Restrictions
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November 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
We are not watering. Period. Plants that nature can’t sustain will be allowed to die. In the long run, that will result in a more maintainable yard, I think.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Riddle me this.
All the downstream reservoirs appear to be full. W.F. George is in Zone 1, which I interpret to mean they are actively dumping water out of it to get the lake level down.
Lanier needs to do scheduled releases to keep the mussels etc. alive downstream. BUT, if the downstream reservoirs are not only full, but overflowing, doesn’t it stand to reason that releases from Lanier could be stopped? Or am I missing something? (Wouldn’t be the first time.) Just seems odd, that’s all.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I’ve been following the rules and trying to conserve. I got the exemption (I only overseeded my lawn this fall because it became so unsightly I didn’t want to freak the neighbors). It was pretty simple and only cost $4.95.
I wonder if the water restrictions or all the new coverage (which got people to conserve, redardless of whether or not they even had a lawn) helped conserved more water. That’s one downside to the lack of media coverage on the ongoing water problems . . . out of sight, out of mind, so people may have gone back to their old habits.
November 25th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Scott -
Right now Lanier is only releasing enough water to cover the needs for downstream users – particularly Metro Atlanta. It’s not releasing water for mussels.