Boone entered Stage 2 Water Restrictions starting July 1. The initial announcement was made by the town of Boone June 25, motivated by a statewide drought thinning water resources across North Carolina in what has become the worst drought since 2007.
According to the town of Boone, the restrictions aim to prevent any “unnecessary or intentional waste of water” and include limits on activities such as watering lawns and other landscaping work, filling or refilling swimming pools, washing vehicles and other equipment without a water reclamation or reuse system and washing driveways, sidewalks, buildings, parking lots and other outdoor surfaces. The full list of limited activities can be found on the Town of Boone’s Public Works website.
Civil penalties for violating the water restriction are a warning on the first offense, a $100 fine on the second offense, a $250 fine on the third offense and a $500 fine on the fourth and each subsequent offense.
App State is served by its own water source and has not yet enacted water restrictions.
“The university uses less water during the summer, and despite the drought conditions, the App State reservoir currently has adequate supply. No mandatory water restrictions are in place on the Boone campus at this time,” Senior Director of Public Relations Anna Oakes wrote in a statement.
App State has measures in place to conserve water including delaying pressure washings of buildings and reducing some landscape work.
“While reservoir levels do not currently necessitate mandatory water restrictions under the university’s Water Shortage Response Plan, the university is taking a number of steps to reduce water usage while the town is under restrictions. Facilities Operations will work to limit any water usage that is not critical to normal operations,” Oakes wrote.
The town’s water restrictions aim to protect the New River watershed, which Boone’s water system relies on.
“We can all band together to protect our resource, which is the New River that provides clean drinking water and recreation space and opportunity, and also biological importance,” Boone Mayor Dalton George said in a statement on Instagram Friday morning.
George encouraged the town to be conscious of water usage and use creative solutions to abide by the restrictions, like reusing shower water and growing native and drought-resistant plants.
“Hopefully we’ll get some rain soon and replenish the water that we so desperately need,” George said.
Further information can be found on the Town of Boone’s Public Works website.
