Pumping lake water banned: Duke Energy: Embargo in place until water levels back to normal

Sep 27, 2007 - Knight Ridder Tribune Business News
Author(s): Kathryn Thier

Sep. 27--Duke Energy banned pumping lake water for lawn irrigation this week, as the ongoing drought forced tighter water restrictions around the Lake Norman area.

Also this week, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities banned all lawn irrigation using its water, a first for the utility. The agency supplies north Mecklenburg residents with public water. Lincoln County has had a lawn-watering ban since mid-August. Iredell and Catawba counties are the only ones in the Lake Norman area that still allow lawn watering. For Mooresville water customers, lawn irrigation is limited to 7 p.m.-6 a.m. three times a week, based on street address. Sherrills Ford residents who get their water from Hickory are limited to watering 10 p.m.-5 a.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays. Duke Energy, which manages Lake Norman's water levels, issued the lake pumping ban Tuesday, after having restricted it to Tuesdays and Saturdays earlier this month.

The ban is effective "until rain returns to the area and restores streamflows, lake levels and groundwater levels to normal operating levels," according to a company news release. Under the new ban, first-time violators will be issued a warning. A second violation will result in Duke removing pumping facilities from the lake boundary. Continued violations could result in a loss of dock access for up to five years. In Iredell, Mooresville Public Services director John Vest said the town will wait until the end of the month before considering increasing its water restrictions. Statesville, which uses the Catawba and South Yadkin rivers for water, isn't under any conservation measures.

On Monday, though, city officials asked its users to voluntarily limit lawn watering to once a week and not to seed or reseed lawns. Statesville provides Troutman with water, so these voluntary measures apply to customers there too. Charlotte-Mecklenburg's tougher rules also include a ban on using water in ornamental fountains without fish and on residential car washing. For more information, customers can call 311. Report Pump Abuse Anyone observing misuse of lake pumps can report it to Duke Energy at 800-443-5193.

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