Published: May 07, 2008 10:52 pm            

Water restrictions eased

Chatsworth to raise rates

Chatsworth Water Works customers will save some money this summer, thanks to a decision by Gov. Sonny Perdue to lift a mandated 10 percent water cut he imposed last fall on North Georgia.

Water Works manager Tom Martin said the utility had been prepared to impose special conservation fees on customers who exceeded certain levels of water use starting June 1. He says those plans have been canceled.

Martin says a 10 percent across-the-board increase in rates will still take effect June 1. But higher rates for additional water use will not be put into place.

Both Murray County and Whitfield County remain under Level Four water restrictions. Those rules ban most outdoor water use, with some commercial exceptions. The state also allows hand watering of plants and lawns for no more than 25 minutes per day on an odd/even schedule based on home addresses between midnight and 10 a.m. And new landscaping can be watered up to three days a week between midnight and 10 a.m..

“Currently, Dalton Utilities plans to maintain the exemptions in place for Level Four and evaluate our status in 30 days to determine how we should proceed to protect our community’s water resources,” said Don Cope, president and CEO of Dalton Utilities. “We hope local residents will be conservative in their water usage while protecting their investments in landscaping, trees, shrubbery and swimming pools.”

According to data provided by Dalton Utilities, the area is running a four-inch rainfall deficit so far this year, after a 28-inch deficit in 2007.

But Cope said the state’s lifting of its mandated water cuts will help the utility.

“Now, Dalton Utilities no longer has to worry about violating our water permit should local industry pick up,” he said.

        

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