Water Being Turned On Again in South : Drought Restrictions Eased as Storms Replenish Reservoirs

For more than a month, Bobbie Lane has kept baking pans under the downspouts of her home here in Clayton County to catch whatever rain she could to water her prized azalea bushes. “It was like liquid gold to me,” she said.

Clayton County, like other drought-parched localities across the Southeast, has had to live under stringent water conservation measures. A total ban on outdoor watering was ordered in mid-July, forcing residents to devise ingenious ways to collect water for thirsty flowers and plants--catching condensation from air conditioners or recycling rinse water from automatic washers.

But now, to a chorus of universal rejoicing in this red-earth-and-pine region just south of Atlanta, Clayton County has joined a growing number of areas that have eased or lifted their restrictions on water use as a result of recent storms that have replenished reservoirs and raised hopes that the worst may be over.

Caution Still Watchword

Nevertheless, for all the promise the wet August weather has brought to many areas of the Southeast, caution is still the watchword. “One wet month does not break a drought,” said John Lang of the National Weather Service’s Atlanta bureau. “What we need is a persistent pattern of rainfall for the rest of the year.”

Municipal officials in Siler City, N.C., a community of 4,800 about 30 miles southeast of Greensboro, heartily agree. They recently lifted restrictions that had called for households and businesses to reduce water use by 30%. But Ben T. Shivar, the town manager, said: “We are still very wary. We have asked people to continue water conservation on a voluntary basis. We still have two months ahead of us that are usually dry.”

Charlotte, N.C., is one of the more fortunate communities. A mandatory water conservation program that had been in effect for nearly a month was called off last week. City officials said enough rain had fallen to maintain consistent pressure throughout the city’s 1,800-mile network of water lines. The city’s 15 elevated water tanks, critically low only three weeks ago, are now full.

Deactivate ‘Squirt Squad’

“We’ve had good times . . . . We’ve had a lot of steady drizzle, and we’re enjoying every minute of it,” said Charlotte’s utility director, Joe Stowe. “We’ve even deactivated the ‘Squirt Squad.’ ”

The “Squirt Squad” was the nickname given to utility employees assigned to monitor compliance with the water conservation program. Under the restrictions, residents with even-numbered addresses could water only on even-numbered days from midnight to 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. to midnight. Odd-numbered addresses conformed to the same hours on odd-numbered days.

Arlene Miller found out how effective the squad could be when she returned to her home in Charlotte from a vacation in late July, not knowing about the restrictions.

“Everything just looked so dry, I got out of the car and, while I was unpacking it, I put the sprinkler on in the yard,” Miller said. Less than 10 minutes later, a member of the “Squirt Squad” pulled up in a car and slapped her with a warning.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, Greensboro, Charlotte, Bessemer City and Union County have either dropped conservation measures or eased the limitations. They were among 47 localities listed by the state Division of Water Resources earlier this month as having imposed some form of water conservation.

Flooding Hits S. Carolina

In South Carolina, with heavy rains soaking most of the state on Wednesday for the second consecutive day, the biggest water problem for the moment is flooding. “We’ve gone straight from the most severe drought we’ve ever had to a pretty much common springtime flood situation,” said Sam Baker, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Columbia.

In Georgia, here in Clayton County, a spate of thunderstorms in recent weeks raised the water levels in the county’s two reservoirs high enough so that, after a total ban on outdoor watering, it is now permitted between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on weekdays.

“You have no idea what a relief it is,” Lane said. “My azaleas are as marvelous as they could be, but my front lawn had gotten so dry that it crackled like eggshells when you walked on it.”

At least 13 Georgia cities have exceeded their average rainfall for the entire month of August--among them, Atlanta and Savannah. But August’s rainfall boon has not been spread uniformly across the drought-stricken Southeast.

In Portsmouth, Va., reservoir manager Leslie F. Nelms said the rains “went all around us, but they did not hit us. We made no gain.”

Levels Low in ‘Triangle’

In the “Triangle” region of North Carolina--bounded by the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill--reservoir levels are still so low that conservation measures remain in force.

That has prompted athletic officials at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to ask Tar Heel tailgaters to tote a jug of water with them for the school’s first home football game on Sept. 6. The notices were sent to more than 8,000 out-of-town season ticket holders.

“What we’re trying to do is to alert people that there is a water crisis and that any water they can save will help the situation,” said Paul J. Hoolahan, the school’s assistant athletic director.

Prohibitions on water use remain in effect in Fayette County, Ga., which is next to Clayton County. “We’ve got two large oak trees in our yard that are gone--they’re dead,” said Jeannette Lee of Fayetteville. “And, of course, our grass was dying, although it’s beginning to come back somewhat because of the recent rains.”

Elsewhere in Georgia, watering restrictions remain in effect in Atlanta, Roswell, Alpharetta and Conyers and in the counties of DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Rockdale, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Forsyth and Henry.

To underscore the problems still remaining because of the drought, the Georgia state Environmental Protection Division has sent letters to about 350 communities--chiefly in central and southern Georgia--asking them to develop drought contingency plans. About 100 communities that depend on surface water, primarily in northern Georgia, were required to prepare similar plans earlier this summer.

Aid to Farmers Seen

Agricultural officials in the Southeast say the recent rains may aid farmers with late-growing crops and those sowing winter wheat and other crops this fall.

For example, the fall soybean crop is turning green again in Nash County, N.C., northeast of Raleigh. More than five inches of rain fell in parts of the county last week.

But, for many farmers, the rain has been too little too late.

“The drought has pretty near wiped me out,” said Clifford Lovette of Sylvania, Ga., in the southeast part of the state near Statesboro. Lovette farmed between 800 and 1,000 acres, raising corn, soybeans and peanuts.

But last week, he said, he was forced to take a maintenance job with a construction company “just to keep grits on the table.”