Union County residents asked to conserve water amid drought

Union County on Tuesday asked residents to begin conserving water, joining several Charlotte area communities that made similar requests last week due to no rain and above-average temperatures.

The city of Charlotte asked residents to begin conserving water last week, followed by Concord, Harrisburg and Kannapolis.

On Tuesday, Union County Manager Cindy Coto declared a Stage 1 water shortage for the county.

Residents are asked to:

▪ Limit irrigation system use to two designated days per week.

▪  Use only hoses with sprint activated nozzles when watering lawns by hand.

▪  Limit lawn, shrubbery and garden watering to what’s necessary for plants to survive.

▪  Limit residential car washing to a minimum.

▪  Stop operating fountains and other ornamental water features that do not sustain aquatic animal life

“We understand that it seems unusual to ask our residents to conserve water after summer has ended,” said Ed Goscicki, executive director of Union County Public Works. “Our current temperatures have been above average for this time of year and we are experiencing less rainfall than usual, so it’s very important that we take measures now to keep our water supply strong for the upcoming months.

“All it takes is a few small changes in our residents’ daily routines to ensure that our water supply will be maintained at safe levels to serve our population,” he said.

Stage 1 is the second of five drought stages.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Union County residents asked to conserve water amid drought."