Raleigh eases up on water restrictions

RALEIGH -- Correction: A Sept. 17 story on the front of the Triangle & Co. section about the Raleigh City Council easing water restrictions inaccurately described how the council voted. The council voted 6-2 to ease the restrictions.

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For the first time in 13 months, Raleigh water customers may water their lawns and plants three days a week.

The City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to return to the rules it had in place before last year's drought took hold. The council decided to keep the time restrictions that limit when a customer may operate a sprinkler system and a hose-end sprinkler.

Under the rules that go into effect today, residents with odd-numbered addresses may water lawns and landscapes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Those with even-numbered addresses may water Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Sprinkler systems may operate between midnight and 10 a.m. Sprinklers attached to garden hoses are allowed between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Watering with a hand-held hose is not restricted.

The council also added language to its everyday water conservation ordinance that prohibits wasteful use of water, such as watering streets, parking lots, driveways and sidewalks. The ordinance also now prohibits city water from being served in restaurants unless a customer requests it, and hotels and motels must ask guests spending more than one night to use their towels and bed linens more than once before they are washed.

Raleigh's water rules apply to residents in the city and the six Wake towns it supplies water to -- Wendell, Rolesville, Knightdale, Garner, Wake Forest and Zebulon.

Mayor Charles Meeker was the only council member who opposed the return to three-day-a-week watering. He worries that it will make people lose sight of the need to conserve water all the time.

"I don't want us to be sending the wrong signal out," Meeker said. "I think the point is: Do people need to be watering three days a week? The answer is no."

Other council members noted that tropical storms Fay and Hanna have left Falls Lake, Raleigh's water source, with an abundance of water.

On Tuesday, Falls Lake was more than 4 feet above normal, prompting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release water downstream. The most recent weekly map issued by the U.S. Drought Monitor showed that drought conditions no longer prevail in the Triangle.

Council member Philip Isley said he doubts any Raleigh water customer will soon forget last year's drought. He also noted that the city's public utilities department needs to sell water to cover its operating budget.

"Our utility needs to make money," he said.

The changes approved Tuesday were recommended by the city's Water Conservation Advisory Council, a group of seven local experts appointed by the City Council to review Raleigh's water restrictions. The group is expected to present more recommendations to the City Council by the end of the year.