By Monique Jones
The Birmingham Times
The Birmingham Water Works this week lifted water usage restrictions after reporting an increase in water levels at Lake Purdy, which supplies the utility’s reservoirs.
However, the BWW still asks customers to limit outdoor water usage to two or three days at the most.
The BWW had issued a Stage Three drought warning in Oct. 2016, with water usage restrictions and drought surcharges going into effect the following month. The BWW reverted to Stage Two drought restrictions in January.
Darryl R. Jones, assistant general manager of operations for the BWW, said the winter and spring rainy seasons “have greatly improved” the region’s water supply.
“This region still needs an additional seven inches of rain to completely move this part of the state out of all drought designations,” he said.
The utility reports that Lake Purdy received 23 inches of rainfall since Dec. 1, which raised the level more than 20.4 feet, bringing the lake back to its full pool level as of March 31. Inland Lake, which also supplies water to the BWW, was raised more than 17 feet, bringing the lake within four inches of its full pool level Sunday.
