Restaurant group says reopening safe despite water conservation calls

As the recovery from Hurricane Francine continues, some local leaders are calling on residents and businesses to conserve water. Those mixed messages are causing confusion among some New Orleans-area business owners, who called WWL to ask if they should reopen their businesses on the day after the hurricane hit the area.

Louisiana Restaurant Association president Stan Harris says it's safe for local restaurants to reopen because they can operate without causing more stress on strained water systems.

"I don't see any problem with it knowing what their water usage is," Harris said. "Restaurants are using water predominantly for ice-making and for preparing beverages."

According to Harris, restaurants aren't "huge users" of water. He says restaurants owners aren't doing laundry or washing down their buildings, activities homeowners might perform following a storm. Harris adds that washing dishes in restaurants uses much less water than one might think.

"Most of their equipment is air-cooled, and the bulk of their equipment is either electrical-driven or gas-driven," Harris said.

Harris believes restaurants reopening immediately after the hurricane won't affect post-storm water runoff.

"You've got to balance the needs of a business trying to get its business open after being closed and support its staff and all of the other things that it has in its overhead versus the needs of the community," Harris said.

In fact, Harris says the reopening of restaurants might provide a post-storm economic boost to the New Orleans metro.

"It'll be a whole lot quicker recovery because we've got folks coming to town. We've got folks that are looking out to find a place to eat right now just to get a break from being in the house for 24 to 36 hours."