<p>I am curious to know if people in other areas of the country are aware of what is going on here in the Southeast. We are currently in an “exceptional drought” situation and predictions are that our primary water sources will RUN OUT in 3-4 months. I did hear on the news this morning from an army corp of engineers guy that an alternative to this would be to drain the lakes down below the water conservation level…that would add a few weeks or maybe months to the time but could well destroy the lake to the point that it could not be brought back with just rain.</p>
<p>The frustrating thing is that the army corps releases a tremendous amount from the lake daily for use by people in Alabama and Florida (I am originally from Alabama, BTW, so no hard feelings there!), and I understand that they are not under any restrictions about water usage at all. So far, we are under a ban of ALL outdoor water use, exceptions made for commercial use (commercial landscapers and car washes and such…those will be shut down next). The other annoying thing is that the water being released from our lakes is being used to keep some endangered species of mussel alive, or some such. I get protecting endangered species and all, but I am beginning to feel like one myself!</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we are lugging water from our showers out to water plants, looking into getting a rain barrel to catch what we do get, and, umm, not flushing very often.</p>
<p>Ha! Rochester sounds pretty good right now (closer to NYC and my daughter, who I miss terribly!), except I would then be leaving my other two kids and their spouses and, oh by the way, our jobs…and I doubt many people will suddenly decide to move to Atlanta in the near future, so selling our house would be hard.</p>
<p>We are very concerned in the Great Lakes area as well. All five lakes and Lake St. Clair are at near historic lows. Lake Superior is down 2 feet in the last year or so.</p>
<p>On the other hand…</p>
<p>“Not only is Lake Superior the largest of the Great Lakes, it also has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world. It contains almost 3,000 cubic miles of water, an amount that could fill all the other Great Lakes plus three additional Lake Eries.”</p>
<p>churchmusicmom,
I am in the northeast and I am aware of what is happening in the Atlanta area. There was a news report on NBC evening news last night about anonymous tip lines where people are calling in and “ratting out” their neighbors who are watering lawns with hoses and sprinklers.</p>
<p>Churchmusicmom-We (AL) were under water restrictions all summer long! Absolutely no outdoor watering and there were fines and surcharges for going over minimum usages (Level 3). While it has been lifted to a Level 2 drought for now, we expect any day to be put under Level 3 again. How long has Atlanta been under the restrictions? AL (our area) noticed significant drop in water usage this summer after the Level 3 drought restrictions were put into place. Perhaps more Atlantans need to heed the drought restrictions. And yes, there were people calling and ratting out their neighbors. We are all very concerned for Atlanta and the Southeast. Not to wish harm on anyone, but we are hoping for a tropical storm/mild hurricane.</p>
<p>I feel for you. We have been in a 7 year drought and things haven’t fully recovered BUT this year has at least put water into the tanks, creeks, and lakes. I have 3 small lakes on my ranch and I had about two buckets of water in one, a little more in the second one, and the third one had lost 20 feet of water (and it’s only 24 feet deep). </p>
<p>I don’t think everyone really understands how dependent some of us are on rain for livestock, crops, pasture grass…so I’ll be thinking about y’all and all my relatives a bit south of you who still make their living farming.</p>
<p>I am sympathetic with your current problems and concerns for the future. At our primary residence in AL, we were under Stage 3 drought restrictions for months, and are now at Stage 2 (& likely to return to 3 soon.) That meant a 300% penalty for “excess” usage from the water utility and a $200 fine from our city for each violation. The builder of our new house failed to test the sprinkler system, and we were hit with a nearly $500 water bill the first month we used it (we thought sparingly), due to undetected leaks. It’s been turned off completely since April. I couldn’t have it repaired because no automatic systems were allowed at all under Stage 3. Our lawn has completely died, as have $3K worth of trees and shrubs that dh planted. </p>
<p>We lived in a nearby county served by the same water co. back during the last severe drought in 2000. The water co. did nothing at all in the past seven years to either increase supply or decrease their own horrendous leak problems. Even more irritating, the water co. increased its rates after the last drought to make up for lost revenue due to customers conserving. </p>
<p>At our other house, the official restrictions began later, but we’ve done no lawn watering there at all this year and it shows. The grass isn’t a total loss at that house, but we’ve lost two young trees and six shrubs so far. </p>
<p>I’m buying bottled water again and have installed filters at home, as we’ve noticed a decline in water quality (mostly too much chlorine.) None of us has taken a bath in months. Showers are kept short, and I have a large bucket in the master shower to catch run off. I’ve used that water to clean our porches and doors, as construction work nearby keeps us coated in red clay dust. </p>
<p>We’re also hoping for a tropical storm to settle over AL and dump some much needed rain here.</p>
<p>I have been paying attention to the drought conditions too. I got a letter from the homeowner’s association yesterday saying it would cost about $25000 to replace the trees and shrubs lost this summer. I grew up on a farm so the weather forecast was always an important part of my life. I am in the mid-atlantic and we have been dry, but not officially a drought. I have horses and the creek in one pasture where they are boarded is completely dry and the other is a trickle and I don’t remember when there was grass in the pastures. Everyone talks constantly about the lack of hay. I get really irritated when the weather talking heads talk about the beautiful weather. Some will even still ask - will rain ruin the weekend? They should be wishing for some dark, dreary, rainy days - that would be beautiful.</p>
<p>We were in a drought a few years ago and they told everyone we were “unable” to water grass, wash cars, etc. Our pool had a leak in it and it was so frustrating. We finally said the heck with it and filled up our pool with our hose. We have our own well so we just looked at it like any water that leaked out of the pool went back into the well for us to be able to use to put back in the pool. We were totally prepared to dig a new well if we depleted ours however we knew we had the deepest well around. (People looked at us when we dug it that deep in the first place). We used the pool water to water the flowers and wash our cars and I don’t believe we’ve had a drought like that since.</p>
<p>Yeah, Churchmusicmom, don’t beat on us in AL. We aren’t under water restriction here in LA, but we have had more rain than No Al. Up at my Mom’s, a couple of counties from B’ham, they have been on water restriction for months. Water restriction for them, though is (excuse the pun) a drop in the bucket for B’ham or Atlanta, the population is too small in her rural area to make any impact on a city’s supply. NO hay, no ponds, no catfish.</p>
<p>Thanks, CGM, 2 years of little to no rain is directly due to green lawns??? It may be due to global warming, but its not due to multi-headed showers.</p>
<p>no, if we were more careful with our water, we wouldn’t use it all up to make pretty lawns</p>
<p>I lived through a drought in SF…if its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown, flush it down</p>
<p>And yes, it is the rain and the weather, but we have this mentality that water is always gonna be there, a very shortsited vision, so we just use it willynilly, instead of taking care</p>
<p>so our reserves are down, and people think, what me conserve…nah</p>
<p>Sigh
I was afraid this would turn into a lecture on how we have done this to ourselves. Of course, we all understand the need to conserve water and also to understand that landscaping serves a vital purpose in preventing erosion and such. </p>
<p>I am so glad people in Alabama posted as I am tired of the news around here making it sound like people “downstream” from us are not conserving at all. I did not think that was truly the case. </p>
<p>Yep, I have been praying for a nice little tropical depression to come and sit on us for a while…</p>
<p>I feel so bad for those who depend upon water to make their living…plant nurseries, farmers, etc. I cannot imagine the frustration! It’s bad enough just trying to keep our little corner of the world alive with our shower water…</p>
<p>We’re 17" behind in rain so far this year. We were on water restrictions for several weeks, though you wouldn’t know it by seeing some of my neighbor’s yards. While my lawn is yellow and brittle, theirs is green and lush. The new plantings we put out in May (holly bushes, barberry bushes, azaleas, etc.) didn’t survive, so I left $330 in front of my house for the city to pick up last week. I won’t plant again until spring and, when I do, you can bet it will be something that is drought-hardy. At one point, our town had only a one day supply of water left yet I saw people watering. Yes, I reported them. More than two hundred automatic sprinklers had their water supplies cut off by the city because homeowners didn’t do it themselves. I welcome every drop of rain we get. It’s gotten so exciting for us to see rain that my husband and I call one another at work (we work 20 minutes from one another) to see if it’s raining there, too. Please, send rain to middle Tennessee. We would welcome it! Not having enough water is a very scary thought.</p>
<p>I don’t see this as a matter of blame. OTOH, drought is becoming a reality around the globe, and in many places worse than here, so I do think that water conservation is going to be more and more something we all need to be conscious of.</p>
<p>Lawns are not natural, and the water they need is not a natural use of water. Every ecozone has natural flora that can maintain the soil without the need to apply excess water. In parts of the country where lawns are truly an artificial construct, like the southwest, many people are taking up xerioscaping to better fit in with the natural conditions.</p>
<p>Farmers and ranchers do need the water; that’s why it needs to be saved for those kinds of uses. If I were a landscaper in a droughtprone region, I think it would be good business to learn and promote water-less landscaping techniques.</p>
<p>I’ve always been extremely water conscious, even though drought usually is not a problem in NJ (at least up North, down in Cape May where I am going to move, it’s a huge problem, and they’ve got the high water rates to show that–which certainly encourages restricted use!) </p>
<p>Water could end up being the source of war and strife as much as oil is; the sooner we relearn our relationship to it, the better.</p>
<p>We have had water restrictions for a long time here in Atlanta. It is only the last month or so that it has been total outside watering restrictions. Prior to that, we could water Sundays between midnight and 10 a.m. Last spring we could water 3 days a week from midnight till 10 a.m. </p>
<p>I haven’t ratted on anyone, but it does make me mad when I take walks around the block and sprinklers are running. Especially when they are watering the street. Some things seem obvious though - when the neighbor has bright green grass while the rest of us have straw. </p>
<p>My guess is that water usage won’t be voluntarily restricted till it hits the pocketbook harder. Set limits on usage, and charge more for households who exceed that usage. (Yeah, I know - how to balance us empty nesters with the full houses.) (While we’re at it, that’s how I feel garbage - non-recyclables - should be handled, too - but that’s another thread.)</p>
<p>I also wish we had more cobblestone-type streets, driveways, parking lots - that allow the water to seep back into the ground. When we finally do get rain, the ground is so dry and hard, the rain can’t soak in. And we have so much pavement, it just sizzles. If we get any hurricaine remnants, we’ll have flood conditions.</p>
<p>The good news is that we have rain predicted for tonight.</p>