Drought, ‘abnormally dry’ conditions lead to voluntary water restrictions across Middle Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The town of Chapel Hill and the city of Franklin have issued voluntary water restrictions to help deal with an ongoing drought and dry conditions.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor , Chapel Hill faces a a severe drought. As of July 16, the monitor also listed Franklin as abnormally dry. The Drought Monitor described “abnormally dry” as a precursor to drought without actually being a drought.

These conditions have caused both areas to issue voluntary water restrictions.

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Chapel Hill relies on both a well and buying water from Marshall County. Local leaders, like town administrator Danny Bingham, expressed their concern with the lack of rain.

“It becomes an emergency-type status where not only the homeowners or the residents, but the business owners are affected,” Bingham told News 2. “The laundromats and car washes are places that have a heavy use of water. We don’t want to have to ask them to scale back or shut down.”

Chapel Hill’s restriction requested that those on Chapel Hill’s water system avoid watering their lawns or gardens, fill their pools, or use other means of outdoor irrigation. That restriction began on July 16 and will go until further notice.

“The precautions we are taking are similar with what other water systems are implementing in the area due to the dry conditions,” the announcement read . “Your cooperation under this restriction is critical for us to get through this dry season.”

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Franklin uses almost two million gallons of water from a water reservoir. The city of Franklin urged their nearly 19,000 customers to conserve water by only washing their cars at commercial carwashes, watering plants early in the morning or after sundown and checking for leaks.

If you would like to learn more about water conservation, please click here .

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