Once-a-Week Watering Limit to Start Sept. 6 8/30/07

The Holly Springs Town Council is expected to implement tougher watering restrictions beginning Thursday, Sept. 6 because of severe regional drought. The once-a-week limit would apply to irrigation systems but not to watering by hand.

• Odd-number addresses - Watering would be allowed only on Tuesdays from 12:01 a.m. until 10 a.m.
• Even-number addresses - Watering would be allowed only on Wednesdays from 12:01 a.m. until 10 a.m.

Thirty-day exceptions are available from the Town Clerk for seeding or sodding lawns. Property owners who don't use a professional landscaper should show receipts for seed or sod. Commercial landscapers and also homeowners using low-volume drip irrigation would be exempt from the once-a-week limit.

Car and boat washing at home will be restricted to weekends, although vehicle owners can use commercial car washes throughout the week.

See the proposed water shortage measures.

The Town Council is expected to enact the revisions at its regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 4. The effective date has been pushed back to Sept. 6 to ensure customers don't have to wait more than a week between waterings.

“I think everybody recognizes we're in a drought situation, and we need to be responsible,” Town Manager Carl Dean has said.

The new once weekly watering schedule resembles those recently enacted by Holly Springs' two water suppliers - Harnett County and the city of Raleigh.

Nine years ago, The Town Council adopted an ordinance allowing restrictions on lawn irrigation and other non-essential uses from May through September. Those seasonal conservation measures take effect when the council votes to implement them.

In June, council members enacted the seasonal measures, limiting use of irrigation systems to three days a week. Continuing drought has led Town officials to move to the next level of restrictions - officially known as Stage 1 - and allow watering once a week.

The Town of Holly Springs has two sources of water. It buys most of its water from Harnett County, which draws from the Cape Fear River. The Town also obtains water from the city of Raleigh, which uses Falls Lake.

Raleigh switched to the once-weekly watering limit beginning Aug. 28.

Harnett County officials had initiated voluntary conservation measures in late May, hoping that the drought would end within weeks. But rapidly dropping levels in Jordan Lake, which feeds the Cape Fear River, led Harnett officials to move to mandatory measures in late August.

Holly Springs' revised water shortage measures are designed to protect supplies while minimizing the effect on homeowners and on businesses such as commercial landscapers and car washes.

Lawns require only one inch of water per week, including rainfall, to survive.

For more information on the water conservation ordinance, contact the Town Clerk's office. For more on water conservation, visit the N.C. Division of Water Quality or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or call Public Utilities at (919) 577-1090.

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Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us