South’s Dry Spell Travels North
October 18, 2008 by Editor
Filed under The Northeast, The Southeast
CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) — The drought that has plagued the Deep South for more than a year is creeping northward, and officials in multiple states are restricting outdoor burning in the face of water shortages and forest fire risks from falling leaves and tinder-dry conditions.
Extreme drought conditions, the second-worst possible, have now spread into Kentucky, and severe conditions have returned to West Virginia and southwest Virginia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“The last three months have sucked every bit of moisture we’ve had,” said Ben Webster, a fire staff assistant for the West Virginia Division of Forestry.
In eastern Kentucky, retailers are sending bottled water to drought-stricken Magoffin County after its primary water source, the Licking River, fell to low levels and residents were told to conserve tap water. The county’s school system is serving meals on disposable plates with plastic utensils. Lunch trays have been temporarily shelved to save on dishwashing.
Kentucky also suffered through a severe drought a year ago, but “this is probably the worst that I’ve had to deal with,” said Joe Hunley, Magoffin County’s schools superintendent.
Tens of thousands of gallons of bottled water have been distributed through a fire department and a water company alone. “We’re bringing water in daily and distributing it to those people who are in need,” said county health director Berti Salyer. “Of course, that’s just about everyone in Magoffin County right now.”
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Source: CNN
Five rebates reward water conservation
August 6, 2008 by Editor
Filed under The Southeast
JAMES CITY, VA – Building on the popularity of the rain barrel rebate, the James City Service Authority rolled out five more rebates this weekend. The largest is up to $500 for conservation landscaping, according to a staff memo. To get the rebate, customers need to hire a certified landscape designer and install a watering system conforming to water conservation guidelines.
They then submit a detailed aerial landscape and irrigation plan to the authority, which will refund up to $300 if the landscape is designed by a Virginia Society Landscape designer. A rebate up to $500 is available for hiring a county-sponsored WaterSense irrigation partner.
A large rain cistern will also net customers a hefty benefit. A cistern is like an overgrown rain barrel, in this case 1,000 gallons and up. They are often installed underground, JCSA manager Larry Foster said. The authority will rebate up to half of the lawn irrigation fee for installment, not exceeding the cost of the cistern. The irrigation fee currently ranges $250-$1,400. If the customer disconnects from the irrigation system altogether, the authority will refund the full amount up to the cost of the cistern.
You can also get a refund up to $100 for hot water “on-demand” systems, in which a series of pumps keep a continuos supply of hot water at the tap. When the water in the pipes cools, it circulates back to the water heater.
The authority will reward EnergyStar high-efficiency appliances by returning up to $150 against the cost of washing machines, $100 for dishwashers and $75 for toilets that use less than 1.28 gallons per flush.
The authority decided to expand the program after overwhelming response to the rain barrel program. “We really didn’t know what to expect,” Foster said of the barrel rebate. “We had an intuitive expectation. Fifty would have been a reasonable expectation and would have been a success.” Instead, he’s given out about 200 rebates.
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Source: The Virginia Gazette
For more information on water conservation, visit www.nuprana.com
Water restrictions remain in place in South Florida
August 5, 2008 by Editor
Filed under The Southeast
SOUTH FLORIDA- Most of South Florida remains under twice-a-week watering restrictions, with plans this fall to make that a year-round requirement. While the region averaged 8.63 inches of rain in July, about 2 inches above normal, South Florida water managers say that still wasn’t enough to ease watering restrictions.
The July rainfall helped boost drought-strained Lake Okeechobee, the region’s backup water supply, by about a foot. However, at 10.74 feet above sea level on Monday, the lake still was about 3 feet below normal. Local well fields and the Everglades water conservation areas that supplement them have recovered from drought conditions, but the district contends that the water shortage remains.
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Source: Sun-Sentinel.com
For more information on water conservation, visit www.nuprana.com
