Garner imposes Stage 1 water restrictions amid severe drought

Garner households will have to cut back outdoor watering starting Monday, April 20, as Stage 1 restrictions take effect under Raleigh Water’s drought plan. Spray irrigation is limited to the early morning hours, odd-numbered homes may water on Tuesdays and even-numbered homes on Wednesdays, and hose-end sprinklers may run only from 6 to 10 a.m. or 6 to 10 p.m. on the assigned day. Town officials also told residents to stay under one-half inch of water per week, a limit meant to conserve supply rather than serve as a suggestion, and penalties can apply for people who ignore the rules.

The change reaches every Garner resident because the town is served by Raleigh Water, and Garner said its Stage 1 rules mirror Raleigh Water’s restrictions. That puts homeowners, landscapers and anyone trying to keep newly planted grass alive on a tighter clock for irrigation and a tighter leash on water use. Raleigh Water’s Stage 1 response also changes daily routines beyond the yard: restaurants will serve tap water only upon request, and hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts will ask guests staying more than one night to reuse towels and bedsheets.

Officials said the restriction came after persistent dry weather pushed central North Carolina deeper into severe drought. Falls Lake had 84% of its water supply pool remaining as of April 15 and April 16, just below the 85% trigger that prompts conservation measures. Raleigh says its primary drinking-water source is Falls Lake, it has access to about 58% of the lake’s supply pool, and its secondary sources at Lake Benson and Lake Wheeler are near full capacity.

Raleigh Water says its Water Shortage Response Plan relies on more than 100 years of lake and weather data, and city officials said the current trigger is intentionally conservative after an additional 5.6 billion gallons of storage were added to Falls Lake’s supply pool in 2019. The planning is meant to prevent a deeper shortage later if the dry spell stretches on and the current limits are not enough.

The drought already stands out as unusually severe. The National Weather Service said the Raleigh-Durham airport station recorded the lowest year-to-date rainfall total for April 15 on record across a 140-year period. Raleigh last imposed mandatory water restrictions in 2008, a reminder that this level of conservation is rare and that tougher limits could follow if rainfall does not recover soon.