Coby it is looking good! If you need more fillers, just come back and see me..lol
Any updates of the water bans?
Thank you Janet. Just checked all plants and they're looking pretty good. Even the tiny Hellebore babies I got at the RU. They have name labels bigger than the plants itself. But they still feel crisp and look perky.
Yes, I might be back in Braselton, thank you.
For now I am done with most in front. Need to raise the right handside some more and then call it good. Definitely tiring! I need a rest from that type of heavy work.
Coby
I am so thankful I am on a well ( at least, until the sucker dries up, heaven forbid!) Thankful too for the rain we are receiving now. I swear I can hear my plants singing in the rain. I just potted up some more dahlia tubers('cause the ground was too darn hard to dig) and sprinkled rose food in the beds before it started last night. We have had a slight drizzle all day and steady rain since 7 pm . Zippee!! With this good rain and temps in the 90's next week, I expect to see all kinds of new blooms.
DH was outside working on the inside of his truck today, and he came in and oohed and aahed over the daylilies and asiatics in bloom today. I'm so glad he appreciates my labor of love!
Oh crud.. This is sad.. Cobb has gone to no watering for the first time in history. Our newly dug well has power and it running with a spigot connection, but we don't have it hooked up to the full irrigation.. But we are on the list with our irrigation guy. I'm hoping we might get bumped up to connect since his other customers may not be able to water now at all.. but who knows. My husband has ordered a plaque that says irrigation by well.. but for the time being it's only a hand spigot. We were going to call the water department and have them come do their inspection of our well and irrigation after it was all completed, but I'm going to call today and tell them to come out and see so they can put us on the well list for when someone calls and says I'm out there hand watering. I'll have to put up some hand made sign if I water by hand as I know some neighbors will think I'm taking away the water they would be drinking and go nuts calling.
Susan
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/09/20/drought_0921.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Lake Lanier sinking to a 50-year low?
As level drops, Atlanta faces the fact that its main water supply is no longer a sure thing.
By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/21/07
By the end of the year, Lake Sidney Lanier could fall to levels not seen since it was built in the 1950s, due mostly to the state's prolonged drought.
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In the best-case scenario, the lake — metro Atlanta's main water source — will fall another 9 feet, setting a new record low at 20 feet below its full level. At that point, every public boat ramp and dock, and nearly every private dock, will be high and dry.
In the worst case, the lake will drop another 20 feet, leaving just 4 feet of water storage and threatening the region's water supply. Whether metro Atlanta could continue drawing water out of the lake and the Chattahoochee River it feeds is anybody's guess right now.
Pat Stevens, chief environmental planner for the Atlanta Regional Commission, said losing Lanier as a water source would be to Atlanta what Katrina was to New Orleans.
"It would be on the scale of a disaster like New Orleans," she said.
The dire forecast came Thursday during a teleconference call between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built and operates Lanier, and other federal and state agencies, industrial water users and environmental groups.
The reason for the expected drop is twofold: predictions of a dry, warm winter that would extend a drought now in its second year, and the Corps' obligation to send enough water to Florida to protect two rare and endangered freshwater mussel species.
Under the Endangered Species Act, the Corps says it is required to send 37,400 gallons of water per second via the Chattahoochee River and the Flint Riveracross the Florida line, to the Apalachicola River.
Lately, that's been far more than Mother Nature can give and the shortfall is being made up largely by Lake Lanier, more than 300 miles upstream.
The species under protection are the Gulf sturgeon and two types of mussels, the purple bankclimbers and the fat threeridge.
The minimum amount of water they need was determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Florida representatives say it's still not enough to sustain the oyster industry and prevent an 80,000-acre wetland from drying up.
The Corps has been releasing more than 10 times the amount of water from Lanier it receives from streams flowing in.
The lake is already as low as it was in September 2000, during the state's last extended drought. It's dropped 2 feet just since the beginning of September.
Metro Atlanta's continued water woes beg the question of how the region can continue to grow the way it has. More reservoirs, which can take some of the load off Lanier, are almost certainly on the way.
But even with those, metro Atlanta will either have to find a new source of water or figure out better ways to conserve what's here.
Sally Bethea, executive director of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, said when she was listening to the Corps' forecast, "What I was saying to myself is 'We can't have two million more people move in here. How is that going to work? ... Metro Atlanta is just not willing to put constraints on people's use of water."
On Thursday, the Corps sent out a warning for boaters to beware of obstacles such as sand bars, rocks, stumps and trees.
Jackie Joseph, president of the Lake Lanier Association, estimated one-fifth of the private docks around the lake have been extended as far as they can go to reach water, or are sitting in mud.
"It's going down so rapidly from week to week," she said. "It's not reached final, critical stage, but it certainly is a good way there."
For metro Atlanta and the state, boating hazards and dry docks are the least of the concerns. Far more dangerous is the threat to the region's water supply and the health of the lake and river.
As the lake gets lower, the Corps will be less able to send water downstream to make up for the meager rainfall, which so far this year is at about 24 inches, 14 inches below the norm.
Also, the millions of gallons of treated sewage discharged daily into Lanier and the Chattahoochee will have less fresh water to mix with, creating more pollution.
State Environmental Protection Division officials, who have been monitoring the lake level, were alarmed by the Corps' forecast. EPD Director Carol Couch called it "a sobering wake-up call."
Couch said the forecast for Lanier underscores the "absolute necessity for all water users in the area to be of the utmost conscience about water conservation and the need to abide by declared watering restrictions.
This comes down to assuring that there is going to be a sufficient amount of drinking water for people."
Couch said she is considering whether to call for stronger outdoor watering restrictions, but many local communities are not waiting.
Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, which draws some of its water from the Chattahoochee, on Thursday called for a complete ban on outdoor water use.
The city of Atlanta will continue to only allow outdoor water use on Saturday or Sunday. Other metro Atlanta communities have a range of restrictions.
Metro Atlanta is actually in better shape than many other areas in the state.
Tim Cash, the EPD's assistant branch chief for the Chattahoochee and Flint River basins, said some water systems "are pretty close to failure in terms of available sources." Two drinking water reservoirs serving the city of Hogansville are nearly dry, while the city of Thomaston has only four weeks' water supply left. The cities of Clarkesville, Cornelia, Monticello, Jefferson, Ellijay and Baldwin are all dealing with low water supplies.
"Everybody needs to pray for rain," Cash said.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2007/09/20/cobbwater_0921.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/20/07
The largest wholesale water supplier on the north side of metro Atlanta has imposed a total ban on outdoor water use.
The decision Thursday by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority affects Cobb and Paulding counties and all their cities, and the city of Mountain Park in northern Fulton County.
Similar bans are in effect in Douglas, Carroll, Oconee, Clarke, Barrow and Jackson counties.
The restriction means no lawn watering, no pool-filling and no personal car-washing. Newly installed home landscaping can be watered for 30 days between midnight and 10 a.m. Food gardens remain exempt. Commercial landscaping gets the 30-day benefit and can be watered if a professional is on the property at the time.
The drought and low lake levels are the problem, said Glenn Page, the authority's general manager.
He said Lake Alatoona, the authority's primary water supply, is projected to hit its winter low in mid-October, instead of December. "We are currently in what may become a drought of record," Page said. "It is important that we take steps now to preserve our water supply for future use."
The authority can notify its water resellers, such as the Cobb County water system, that it wants to impose the ban, but enforcement is left to local jurisdictions.
When Page met with his senior managers last month, he said the authority was looking at some kind of modified restriction that would be stronger than the odd-even plan that was in place, but stopped short of a total ban.
This time, even a slightly more restrictive plan would not have worked, Page said.
"It was time we did something, and we went all the way because we only would have had to come back and do more," he said.
WOW! We really need to be constant in our efforts to conserve and PRAY for rain!
Wow ... I didn't realize it was still so bad. It's amazing how when you get a little rain it gets pushed back from your mind. I haven't had to water like I did because it hasn't been quite as hot, plus we've had some afternoon showers ... and let's face it ... there simply isn't much left to water. :-(
On the news this evening. TOTAL watering ban for all of North Georgia. I was keeping some of my plants alive watering on the even/odd 3 day a week system. Now I think everything will die.... I was going to plant a fall garden, but its probably not worth it now.
Don't forget that vegetable gardens are always exempt from the water ban so you can still have that fall garden if it's edible plants you want.
Yeah, I'm sick about it - my brugs are finally getting a nice flush, guess it will be the last hurrah for the season. We have a creek on our property that I spoke about before, I keep urging dh to put in a pump like one down the street. He says the same rules apply because it still comes from the same supply???? I think I will check with the H2o co . This creek is an artesion, not from any river. Anybody know for sure??
PJ when I called the water company to tell them my well was up and running and that I would be using it for irrigation, she did ask me if I had a pump on the river ???? I don't live on the river...and I told her no, it was a well dug by machines and all.. And she said okay, cause some people try to do that and say they have a well?? .. But, if that creek isn't a source of drinking water or isn't saving any endangered species in FL, I'd seriously consider taking water from it if you can.
I am so sorry to all of you that love you plants and gardens and are in this position. I told my neighbor it makes me feel a little bit guilty that I can water and many others can't. She said I shouldn't, but I do just a bit..
I have posted pictures of my garden that I took while i was moving the sprinkler all over the yard and it's in the cottage garden forum if you want to see :) ...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/774521/
PJ, your strawberry begonias are really filling in my side shade garden and it's time for me to put them other places too! Thanks for sharing
Susan
Thanks for the reminder Danita. I saw that in the paper this morning. I want to put in lettuce and maybe peas and carrots.
Thanks so much for thegreat tour - I really intend to come by one day when I am up your way, usually it is a rushed visit with my son's family so every minute is precious. Your yard is wonderful, so happy for you that you got your well, just in time too! You really need it.
I wouldn't drink our creek water - at least without boiling it, Who knows what evils may leak below that clear surface! It comes out of the ground a couple of blocks from us, (used to be a field) now it is in a subdivision. It does flow into a lake about a mile from us.
Yesterday my friend Pat said she saw 3 folk's in a nearby neigborhood out washing their cars - precious water going down the street. That makes me furious when most of us are so stingy with it.
Oh BTW, I love the moonflower you gave me at the swap - here is is about a month ago. Thanks so much, I love it. Pat called yesterday and said she had her first bloom, she has a lot of shade. I love to take night shots, it smells so wonderful at night with the roses, brugs, butterfly ginger and night blooming ginger all going at once.
PJ, thank you :) and yes.. literally just in time with getting a well. I forgot all about that and I'm jsut tickled that it had done so well for you .. I found this for you from the AJC.. You CAN pull from the stream.. !! :)
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/09/29/banrules_0930.html
— Outdoor watering using water from a pond, lake or river? ALLOWED. Same as for private wells. It's legal but discouraged.
— Watering a personal food garden? ALLOWED.
But then the warning at the bottom:
local jurisdictions can have tighter restrictions than those required by the state. Check with your local water provider. (See your water bill for contact information).
:)
Susan
Thank you Susan for the link, it gives me a little encouragement. I do feel badly for all the folks that have no acess to a water source. I really don't care about the weird little fish in Alabama and Florida that are getting millions of gallons of our water while we watch our expensive shrubbery and plants wither and die. I have not watered our lawn all summer, so it is almost dead, it did rebound a bit after we got a nice shower last week.
I think we and THEY may need to revive the cistern system that many island countries and farmers used to have, they collect the rainwater for use in the dry times. They may use them all the time, I don't know. Course it won't work if there is no rain!!
Found this link
http://www.google.com/search?q=Cisterns&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1
PJ
This message was edited Sep 30, 2007 12:26 AM
PJ when my in-laws sold us this house, they moved to St. Thomas for 7 years. Their sole and only source of water was a cistern. They ran out only once and had to have a water truck delivery fill it up. My husband and I have not only been talking about that, but why not have builders put in underground storage tanks or wells for their new homes before they go in. Of course they would have to be told to or have incentives or else they wouldn't see the need to. My husband and I seriously discussed how we could capture our gutter water through a basement holding tank and went ahead with the well, so it will be all the water we need..... But I have heard stories about city's trying to tell folks they couldn't use it.. one from my husband who had a guy in N.GA tell him so, and yesterday on the garden radio show a guy called saying the city of Roswell was telling him no.. I'm glad that I'm not in a city proper for less bureaucracy and less chance of something like this happening to me.
I think it would be a great idea to have a cistern of some sort. Not sure where we could put one here now tho. You'd have to see our wooded/rocky lot to understand the problem. Is you well potable or safe for drinking?? Hope they don't cut you off.
Haven't been down to our creek lately, but our neighbor says it's the lowest he's ever seen it. We would need to dig out a hole to place the 'bucket" in. It roars like a big river after a nice rain.
I'm thinking of dipping buckets of water out of the pool and letting them sit til the Clorine "dies", and use it to at least water all my many potted things. I think it would be ok in a day of sunshine.
This message was edited Sep 30, 2007 2:52 PM
When I was growing up in PA (long ago) we had a cistern for our only water supply. The well water in our area contained too much iron to be used without a lot of treatment. I only remember one time we had water hauled in and that just vaguely. We had our own chlorination system in the basement.