By Patrick Yost
Editor

    Lawns and gardens may be in for some relief, if a petition filed by the Madison Water Department to have Level 4 drought designation downgraded is successful.
    According to Madison City Manager David Nunn, the city last Friday petitioned the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to lower the city’s water supply from Level 4 to Level 4B. Nunn said the EPD should respond to the petition in five working days.
    The new designation would allow city water customers to irrigate lawns and gardens two days a week from midnight to 10 a.m. Currently no outdoor water use is allowed.
    “We’re confident we’ll get to a Level 4B,” he said. The city has been under a Level 4 drought designation and a watering ban for the past eight months.
    Nunn said he contacted the EPD after he learned that Greene and Jasper counties had been upgraded from Level 4 to Level 2, which allows for outdoor watering. Despite the petition, Nunn said the city continued to monitor its water sources with a close eye. “We’ve not come out of the drought but we’ve made headway. We are right on the edge.”
    He also said he hoped city customers had learned that plants and lawns can survive with limited water.
    “I hope that the drought and restrictions have shown that we don’t need as much water on our yards as we thought.”