GA This is encouraging although it is not over

[Beth n Rod]

Ga. Governor Relaxes Water Restrictions: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Ga. Governor Relaxes Water Restrictions
Wednesday February 6, 5:07 pm ET
By Greg Bluestein, Associated Press Writer
Georgia to Allow Swimming Pools This Summer Under Relaxed Water Restrictions ATLANTA (AP) -- Swimmers in north Georgia can rejoice. So can pool managers, lifeguards and the tens of thousands of children waiting to sign up for swim teams in the region.Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said Wednesday the state will relax water restrictions to allow outdoor swimming pools this summer, a relief to north Georgia residents who feared that outdoor water restrictions would leave their pools unfilled.
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"Out of 25 kids in the water I'm coaching, 15 of them now have a job this summer," said Franke Marsden, a swim coach at The Westminster Schools. "That is awesome news."
The announcement came the same day Perdue eased restrictions on outdoor watering in northern Georgia. The new rules would allow hand watering of plants for 25 minutes every other day for three days a week, as long as local water regulators sign off on the rule.
It also allows homeowners and professional landscapers to water newly installed landscaping up to three days a week for 10 weeks, once they pass an online certification program that will start in April.
The severe drought forced the state last fall to virtually ban all outdoor watering in north Georgia and order public water providers in the region to cut their water withdrawals by 10 percent.
Lawmakers responded by quickly adopting Georgia's first statewide water plan, which Perdue signed into law Wednesday. It calls for three years of assessments to measure Georgia's water supply and needs, and creates 11 regional councils to create their own water plans.
But the industries hurt most by the strict water rules have been calling for more immediate changes.
Landscapers have been pushing the state to ease the restrictions before spring, their busiest season. Their lobbyists estimate that more than 14,000 employees have already lost their jobs due to the drought, which forced well-known Atlanta company Pike Nursery Holding into bankruptcy.
The pool industry worried that its businesses would be decimated by the ban, and warned that leaving pools empty or half-filled could pose a health hazard.
Both groups said Perdue's decision gave them more breathing room.
"It took a little cajoling from the public, to get them to see while we all need to work at conserving, the swimming pools are not the bad guys in this," said Marsden, who as league director of the Atlanta Swim Association estimates some 80,000 north Georgia students sign up for swim leagues each summer.
Perdue's order Wednesday doesn't immediately clear the way for swimming pools, as local water providers must first sign off on the changes. But the governor said he's confident they will.
State officials estimate there are 6,500 public swimming pools and 92,000 private pools in the region that use about 7 million gallons of water a day between May and October. Allowing hand-watering and relaxing the other restrictions amounts to another 80 million gallons a day.
Carol Couch, who heads the state's environmental division, said it's a "modest relaxation of standards" when compared to the total water use in the region: Between 800 million to 900 million gallons a day.
Other restrictions are still in place. The 61 north Georgia counties will still be required to cut back their water use by 10 percent compared to last summer's usage. And outdoor fountains and sprinklers are still banned. "To be continued," Perdue said when asked whether more restrictions are to be relaxed.
Some environmentalists are concerned there's a double standard.
"We hear the projections that this year the drought could be just as bad if not worse, and then we have a relaxation of some of the water restrictions," said Sally Bethea, the director of Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
"It must be very confusing to the public. Do we have a problem? Do we not have a problem? If we can ease restrictions on the green industry does that mean we don't have to conserve in other areas?"
But Perdue brushed off the argument.
"Georgians have done their part and will continue to do their part," said the Republican. "Psychologically, we want to send a signal to our neighbors that we are doing our part."
Both he and Couch added that worsening conditions could force the state to revisit its decision.
"At the end of the day, when a community is stressed and it comes between recreational use and drinking water, you know what the choice will be," said Couch.
Associated Press Writer Daniel Yee in Atlanta contributed to this report.

[Beth n Rod]

GPB News: Governor eases water restrictions

This is a good link for podcasts.
Beth

[squirtgun]

Beth,
On the surface this all looks great,but the larger picture is money.The Lawn care/landscape industry have been lobbying the governors office for some time now.You can read what I had to say about this on the link below.

Attention Ga. Contractors