May 25, 2007
Tifton--South Georgia's ongoing drought forces one county to take drastic action to conserve water. On Friday afternoon, Tift County banned watering for fifteen days, effective immediately.
The Tifton Tift County Utilities Department instituted level four drought watering restrictions. That means public water customers can't water their lawns or even wash their cars.
The entire state remains on level two restrictions. That means you can only water between midnight and ten a-m three days a week depending on your home address.
Tift County leaders estimate the temporary ban will save the county about 300,000 gallons of water a day.
They plan to re-evaluate the tight restrictions after fifteen days.
"Based on the information that we are seeing, and looking at our water levels in our acquifer, we have seen a substantial drop in our acquifer," says Russ Dorman, Tift County utilities director.
"We are blessed to have a very good water resource. But we are in a very severe drought, and we all want to collectively emphasis this important step," says Joe Lewis, Tifton vice mayor.
The same exemptions that apply under level two restrictions apply under the level four rules. That means the ban doesn't apply to vegetable gardens, recently sodded lawns, or businesses that depend on watering.
For more information on the water ban, you can visit: http://www.tifton.net.
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