Raleigh lifts watering restrictions

The Raleigh City Council has lifted restrictions that require alternate day watering. In Raleigh you can now water any time you want. If the city council felt that the restriction were unneeded because the same amount of water would be used without them, it would be more understandable. However, it is now revealed that the reason for lifting restrictions was to increase the usage of water.

We are using less water than before. According to the News & Observer story linked below the Raleigh system used 52 million gallons per day in 2007 but used only 51 million gallons per day in 2011, despite a 30,000 person growth. However, there are questions that must be answered. Was part of the decrease due to conservation, which will be lost with the relaxation of restrictions? Was part of the decrease due to the fact that 2007 was significantly dryer, requiring that more water be used for lawn irrigation? Will, the next time we have a major drought, people go back to conservation?

But what is really worrisome is the way in which the need for more money drove the decision. According to the WTVD report, Ed Buchan of the Raleigh water department admits that the real reason is money. Raleigh needs to sell more water.

Charles Meeker, the mayor at the time, said in 2008 "We're not going back to 'all day, any day' watering. Rather, we're going to have permanent water conservation rules so that at all times, even when the lake is full, our community is focusing on the importance of this resource." Mayor Meeker was concerned about the future. It is too bad that the current city leadership is not.

News & Observer article: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/01/2036542/raleigh-lifts-restrictions-on.html

WTVD report: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/abc11_investigates&id=8648771