Munford and Atoka, Tennessee, Consider Water Conservation and Burn Bans

The Munford City Manager along with the Public Works Director have taken the drought conditions into consideration and decided to place a voluntary water conservation on Munford and Atoka Tennessee residents.

The water conservation request asks customers to conserve water as much as possible at all times. However, when watering is necessary residents of Munford and all other areas West of Highway 51 are asked to water only on the even days of the month. Residents of Atoka and all other areas East of Highway 51 are asked to only water on odd days of the month. Since the weekends are the time when the highest water usage occurs, all residents are also being asked to refrain from watering on the weekends. The best times to water are between the hours of midnight and 4:00 a.m. and also 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. during the week days. These are the times of lower water usage. The main reason for the water conservation request is to make sure that there is an adequate water supply to handle any fire emergency situations that may arise in the area.

The burn ban is also a large concern in the area. All open burning is currently banned in the area. This includes construction fires, bon fires, brush fires, and any other fire that is not in an approved burn barrel or burn pit. Any person needing to conduct open burning will need to apply for a burn permit. Each burn permit will be reviewed on an individual basis by the Fire Department and will only last one day.

The water conservation and burn ban is in place for the next 30 days. However, these could be extended as needed. With the Midsouth area in a severe rain shortage, there is no end in sight tot he drought conditions. According to The Covington Leader, the Midsouth area is currently experiencing a rain shortage of 9 to 11 inches for the year. With each day of no precipitation that figure continues to grow. 2007 is so far the third driest year in history for the Midsouth area.

This week there have been rains showers each day, which should help the water shortage and drought conditions. However, it will take more than one week of rain showers to make up for months of low precipitation levels. Keep your eye on the local news stations and the paper to see if the voluntary water conservation request and the burn ban have been lifted or extended.

Sources:

The Covington Leader - "Munford Asking for Water Conservation" - http://www.covingtonleader.com/search.php?search=water&what=all&relation=older&length=&unit=days

City of Munford - Water Conservation and Burn Ban - http://www.munford.com/html/showarticle.php?directoryid=1480&number=328&locationname=Munford.com+Frontpage