5 quick ways to help ease Charlotte’s drought issue at home

As expected, the City of Charlotte called for voluntary water restrictions Tuesday. This is not unprecedented. Charlotte asked customers to reduce water usage in July 2015, when the Catawba River basin area reached drought Stage 1 or “moderate drought.”

The City of Charlotte announced Tuesday that, similarly, “dry weather conditions and above-average temperatures have placed the Catawba-Wateree River Basin in Stage 1 of the Low Inflow Protocol” This is the second of five drought stages and incites recommendations of voluntary water conservation, plus operational adjustments by Duke Energy.

To keep it basic, those of us living in Charlotte can help out by:

(1) Limiting irrigation to Tuesdays and Saturdays from 6 p.m.-6 a.m. if you must irrigate.

(2) Limiting landscape watering of a maximum of one inch of water weekly, including rain. (RIP, red begonias on my stoop.)

(3) Turning off ornamental water features that aren’t necessary to aquatic life.

(4) Washing cars at commercial car wash locations that recycle water. Don’t wash at home.

(5) Conserving water use indoors.

I mean, why not take pride in a two-minute shower?

Photo: Peter Weinberger/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "5 quick ways to help ease Charlotte’s drought issue at home."