A recent announcement has helped to allay some fears:

Citing risks to public health and safety, Governor Sonny Perdue announced plans today to modify state restrictions on the filling of swimming pools in drought-stricken north Georgia, but will still require that water conservation goals be met. Under a Level Four Drought Response, the filling of outdoor swimming pools is prohibited. Today Governor Perdue announced the lifting of this restriction, allowing outdoor pools to be filled from April through September 2008.

That’s some relief for the 6,500 public pools and 92,000 private residential pools in the affected area, that manage to use seven million gallons of water per day from April through September. The Governor’s office went on to observe that:

Some potential impacts if outdoor pools were left empty include collecting stagnant water, cracking or collapsing of pools and posing a safety threat of falling into the empty pool.

Here’s hoping for some of that much needed rain in Georgia.