Georgia drought ‘is over,’ water restrictions eased
Seen leaving Georgia for Southwest United States, ‘drought’ promised to return when state least expects it
State Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch announced today that Georgia’s drought — the headline-grabbing phenomenon that forced Georgians to take shorter showers and watch our lawns turn brown — was officially over.
That also means the watering restrictions, which irked lawn-doting residents and hamstrung metro Atlanta’s landscaping industry, have been eased. (Here’s Georgia’s new outdoor watering schedule.)
Couch said she hopes residents — who surpassed Gov. Sonny Perdue’s 10 percent conservation goal — will continue using less water. But Georgians have very short memories.
Keep in mind that a drought can — and will — happen again. And Georgia lawmakers, who were quick to jump on the crisis but hard pressed to create actual reforms, squandered several opportunities to make the state better prepared when the next one arrives.
Juliet Cohen, general counsel for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, called the state’s move today “totally irresponsible.” She said Georgia is no better off than when it first found itself in drought.
“The governor has been talking about establishing this culture of conservation for the state,” Cohen told CL. “And all the practices the people have begun to bring into their daily lives are now going to be abandoned because of false pretenses. And while we might not be in drought today and it’s been raining recently, our water supply hasn’t expanded and our population continues to grow.”