Level 1 Drought Declared in Georgia

Level 1 Drought Declared on September 9th

On September 9th the Georgia Environmental Protection Division declared a Level 1 drought for 53 Georgia counties.  This includes the Northwest part of Georgia which is experiencing severe and extreme drought conditions.

A Level 1 Drought Response declaration means you will be hearing more from your local water authority about water conservation.

What does this mean to community and school gardens?

At this point, not much.  As always, we need to use best management practices in watering our gardens.  According to the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010 irrigation of personal food gardens is allowed at anytime.  It allows daily outdoor watering for “purposes of planting, growing, managing, or maintaining ground cover, trees, shrubs, or other plants only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. by anyone whose water is supplied by a water system permitted by the Environmental Protection Division.”

You may want to make sure your irrigation system, hoses, and faucets are not leaking.  Does your garden have a rain barrel?  Find additional watering tips below:

Happy gardening!

Becky Griffin
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