Declaring Georgia’s drought over, the state’s chief environmental official lifted severe outdoor watering restrictions on June 17 that had been in effect in the northern third of the state for nearly two years.
“Our water supplies are flush,” Carol Couch, Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, told members of the state’s Drought Management Advisory Committee. “Our rivers and streams have rebounded.”
In 2007, the state imposed Level 4 drought restrictions, as one of the worst droughts in Georgia history deepened and sent water levels plummeting at the state’s federally managed reservoirs. But after the state experienced its wettest spring in 115 years, the tough outdoor watering restrictions have been removed.
Couch praised property owners for conserving water during the drought to a greater extent than would have been possible through regulation alone. But she warned that Georgians should continue cultivating their water-efficient habits, even though abundant rains have returned.
“Drought can be a fickle thing,” Couch said to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
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