State law replaces old watering restrictions in Athens GA

While this spring's wet weather hasn't required much in the way of yard or garden irrigation, Georgians soon might be mired again in a maze of new watering restrictions.

Part of a new state water conservation law will replace the even-odd watering rules that the state Environmental Protection Division has had in place with a new rule that bans outdoor irrigation between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day.

Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010 on Tuesday in an effort to ease negotiations with Alabama and Florida over Georgia's use of water from the Chattahoochee River and Lake Lanier.

The changes in outdoor watering rules go into effect immediately, said EPD spokesman Kevin Chambers.

"The utilities around the state are still working out what this all means, and as far as we can tell that is going to be the major change to the watering restrictions," said Marilyn Hall, water conservation director for Athens-Clarke County.

The EPD has required the entire state to follow a nondrought water conservation schedule, which restricted people with odd-numbered addresses to watering on Tuesday, Thursdays and Sundays. People with even-numbered addresses were allowed to water only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The new watering rule allows everyone to use irrigation systems every day of the week - except between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Chambers said.

"You can also hand-water whenever you want," Hall said. "But you're going to have a lot of evaporation during the day, so it's still the smart thing to water in the early morning or the late afternoon."

The EPD hasn't had time to rewrite rules on water use to match the mandates in the new law and probably won't have new guidelines ready for a few months.

However, the new law trumps EPD and local water system rules, some of which are more restrictive than the new state law.

While the water restrictions included in the Stewardship Act begin immediately, other provisions in the law won't take effect for a year or more.

All new construction after July 2012 must use low-flow toilets and other water-efficient plumbing fixtures, and apartment-builders must make sure every unit has its own water meter.

The law requires local governments to ramp up incentive programs to encourage conservation and requires utilities to start accounting for the amount of water that leaks from water mains and distribution pipes.