Georgia's response to the 2006–2009 Drought; Lessons Learned

The 2006-2009 drought was the first time that Georgia was able to exercise the drought response plan approved in 2003. Overall the plan reached its goal in reducing water use. Public education was a key component in reducing water demands. During the drought we learned that the selected drought indicators are too complex for routine monitoring but worked well in deciding when to end water restrictions. The drought plan's stage three (3) mitigation strategy of allowing outdoor watering on either Saturday (even number addresses) or Sunday (odd number addresses) was found unworkable for many small systems because of infrastructure problems. Large systems found that the once a week watering tended to lead to unacceptable flushing of the water lines at the end of the system causing discolored water.