Georgia Faces Worst Drought in Years

Improved Drought Management Helps Reduce Effects

In Woodstock, Georgia, residents face a complete ban on watering. For most of the summer, metro Atlanta residents faced watering restrictions. This regulated at what time of day the metro Atlanta residents could water, and on which days. These regulations are taken seriously in Atlanta and the surrounding area, with police patrolling neighborhoods checking for rule-breakers. Most metro Atlanta residents have given up on their lawns, but are still lugging water by the bucket-load to keep their shrubs and flowers alive. Rumors are circulating that the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, may shut down due to water shortages.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution says that watering restrictions and bans are helping to manage the drought. Although it is the worst drought Georgia has seen in years, the effects are being managed far better than in the past. Georgia still has some things to learn about water management. In Athens, Georgia, when restrictions were put in place, watering was restricted to one day a week, instead of staggering days that different neighborhoods could water. This meant that so much water got used on that one day that the pressure flushed built-up minerals out of the pipes, causing people's water to turn brown.

Everyone in the Athens area is affected adversely, including University of Georgia students in apartments and dorms who normally don't have to worry about the seasonal water restrictions. University students report hearing football fans complaining about the ban on watering the University of Georgia's football stadium. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is more important in football-crazed UGA-the greenness of the field or getting adequate drinking water to the people of Georgia. If caught violating the water restrictions in Athens, the fine is $1,000.

The low water levels also affect the quality of water that makes it into Georgia homes. Part of controlling pollution is to dilute it in the water supply. However, the water in Athens, Georgia is so low that the percentage of pollutants in the water is reaching dangerous levels.