Weather will test water ban

Homeowners are tempted to violate

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CORRECTIONS

An information box on water restrictions on Page 1B on Saturday incorrectly described the rules in Holly Springs. The town is not under mandatory restrictions.

An article in some editions of the City & State section Saturday should have said that there is enough water in Falls Lake to serve Raleigh's water customers through mid-November, if the region gets no additional rain and the current average water use, 41.75 million gallons per day, remains the same.

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Judy Austin didn't fill up her birdbath this year because of the drought.

The birds will come anyway. The telltale white spots on her new walkway are the first hint of the annual onslaught she expects in the next couple of weeks when they pepper her lawn and deck.

Austin would like to wash off their droppings, along with the slick green mold that has appeared on her deck and the yellow pollen yet to come.

But the city's mandatory water restrictions don't let Austin use the power-washing equipment she shares with a friend. They allow only professional power-washers to do the work. When Austin asked for an estimate, the answer was $1,000.

"Why would we want to do that when we share a powerwasher?" asked Austin, a program coordinator for N.C. State University.

Four months into mandatory water restrictions for the city's water customers, some are getting antsy, especially as the weather gets warmer. Temperatures are expected to be in the 80s this weekend.

Car lovers wonder why they can't wash their cars at home. Sprinklers are pulled out during forbidden hours.

Austin says she wonders whether the city could offer one-time exceptions for people like her. She has worked to cut back on her water use -- running the dishwasher and washing machine when they are full, taking short showers and watering newly planted shrubs once.

But any exemption is unlikely. The City Council decided Tuesday to maintain the city's water restrictions. That includes $200 fines for first-time violators. They skyrocket to $1,000 for second offenses.

The city has handed out about 140 citations to first-time offenders since mid-November.

"We really are trying to have the lake full by May 1, when the summer season starts," said Mayor Charles Meeker.

The situation at Falls Lake, the city's drinking water source, isn't good, according to a memo to city officials Tuesday from Dale Crisp, public utilities director.

The lake remains about 9 inches below its banks. There is enough water to serve the city's customers through mid-November, if the region gets no rain.

Long-term forecasts predict an unusually dry summer.

Meeker said the situation would be even more dire if people hadn't cut back their water use this fall and winter. Water use hovers around 41 million gallons a day.

"It really has made a big difference," he said.

That is why it is important for residents to keep cutting their water use, Meeker said.

Still, the weather forecast doesn't keep some from hoping for relief.

Richard Tarby, a retiree who lives in North Raleigh, says the ban on washing cars at home isn't fair.

Tarby said he shouldn't have to pay a professional car wash to do something he can do at home. He wonders whether the city could limit car-washing to one part of the week and lawn-watering to the other part.

"If somebody's used to washing their car, they don't use that much water," Tarby said.

Brian Murray moved to Raleigh a month ago and was ready to wash his Jeep Wrangler at home one day when neighbors cautioned against it.

Murray isn't sure what would happen to his custom Jeep, which sits a half-foot taller than a normal Wrangler, if he took it to a professional car wash. He would like to be able to do it at home.

Still, he is not looking for any exception.

"I'm not hoping they will lift them on the account of my drama," said Murray, a software engineer. "I hope it rains enough so that we're all golden and we can wash our cars like normal."