Marylanders flooded government switchboards with questions yesterday, while some residents poured bathwater on plants and carwash owners steamed as statewide water-use restrictions took effect.
A telephone hot line set up by the state fielded 250 to 500 calls an hour yesterday, as homeowners asked whether they had to let their fish or flowers die (Answer: No) and business owners questioned how the curbs on outdoor water use applied to carwashes and golf courses and water parks.
Police departments geared up to begin handing out warnings and citations to violators, even as complaints about water wasters started trickling in.
In Baltimore, meanwhile, city officials announced they would start tapping the Susquehanna River early next week to supplement the shrinking reservoirs that serve 1.8 million people in the city and suburbs.
The declaration came two days after the governor ordered the city to begin drawing water from the river immediately.
"I want to cooperate with the state," said George G. Balog, the city's public works director, who on Wednesday had called the governor's order to tap the Susquehanna premature.
People seemed willing -- or at least resigned -- to do their part by complying with the ban on lawn sprinklers and home car washing.
"We leave our bathwater in the tub overnight to water the plants in the morning," said R. Delaine Hobbs, who is president of the Mount Airy Town Council in Carroll County.
He said other town residents are collecting water from their air conditioners and humidifiers for their plants.
Most businesses also seemed comfortable with the governor's call to conserve in what might be the mid-Atlantic region's worst drought in a century.
Commercial carwashes
The one exception was commercial carwashes, which were ordered to shut down unless they recycled at least 80 percent of the water they used.
"I'm wholeheartedly behind [water conservation], but it's left a bad taste in my mouth just because our water use is so visible," said Benson Rice, owner of Whiz Car Wash.
He closed all eight of his locations in the Baltimore area yesterday after being told to by a city inspector.
"We're not using any more than the average business," said Rice, who estimated that none of his establishments used more than 7,500 gallons in a day.
All other businesses that use more than 10,000 gallons a day are asked to voluntarily reduce consumption by 10 percent.
"To say everyone has to restrict their water usage slightly, but you have to close, that's not fair," Rice said.
Whiz will keep its employees working on maintenance and other chores for now, the owner said, but will be forced to make layoffs if the shutdown continues.
In response to the prohibition, the Mid-Atlantic Carwash Association released a statement objecting to the water restrictions yesterday, saying its members were being "unfairly penalized."
Said association spokesman Tony de Lange of Baltimore: "Restaurants, marinas [and] golf courses can still operate and we believe we should, too."
State officials were unmoved by the carwash owners' complaints.
"The goal of this is not to target any specific industry, it's to reduce use of water," said Michael Morrill, the governor's spokesman.
"We are not allowing people to wash their cars at home. When you don't allow them to wash at home but allow them to go down the street, you haven't saved any water."
Morrill said state officials were led to believe that most carwashes recycle almost all their water.
But owners of some older establishments contend they are the only businesses being forced to close by the restrictions.
"For the government indiscriminately to say close your doors, I think, is a very unfair and shortsighted approach," complained Thomas Marsh, who reluctantly shut down his self-serve carwash in McCool, a small town on the Potomac River in Allegany County.
His businesses -- including a coin laundry and restaurant, are supplied by wells.
"I easily lose $1,500 to $2,000 a month over this," he said.
The operator of at least one shut-down Baltimore area carwash hoped to reopen today.
Steve Harris, owner of Mr. Wash, said he had rushed water-reclamation equipment to his Catonsville outlet, the only one of seven locations that did not already have it.
"It's very expensive," Harris said, estimating the equipment cost $20,000.
Operators of deck-cleaning or exterior washing businesses also seemed to be hamstrung by the order not to spray water outdoors.
"I put all my residential [work] on hold until the drought is over with," said Dewaine Hillenburg, co-owner of D&D; Powerwash in Chase.
He said he could get by for now without doing household decks, but, "If I can't have this income, I'm going to be really in trouble. It's me, my wife and my little girl."
"The governor acknowledged this will cause pain," said Morrill, "but at the same time not nearly the pain it will cause if we start running out of water."
Limits in other states
He noted that New Jersey also banned car-washing in water-use restrictions imposed yesterday.
As the region's drought deepened, Delaware Gov. Thomas R. Carper signed an executive order yesterday restricting water use north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, where two-thirds of the state's 724,000 people live and work.
In Maryland, local officials set up hot lines and planned to deal with the inevitable complaints about water scofflaws.
Baltimore police reported 35 calls to the city's emergency and nonemergency numbers from people reporting illegal water use.
Police cars were dispatched to each call, but for several hours there was confusion over how to enforce the governor's order.
By midafternoon yesterday, sample citations were handed out to officers across the city. Lawbreakers are to be informed that routine summertime chores, such as watering their lawn, violate "Governor's Drought Restriction, Executive Order 01.01.1999.24."
At the Northern District station, Lt. John E. Long Jr. instructed 23 officers at the 3: 30 p.m. roll call to issue warnings first, then hand out criminal citations ordering violators to court, where they face a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail.
"Let's use our judgment," Long said from the podium. "Let's advise people that they shouldn't be doing what they are doing before we hand out citations."
The city's Public Works Department also ordered its 25 sanitation officers, who normally respond to complaints about illegal trash dumping, to investigate water complaints and hand out warning citations.
Where to call
Baltimore residents seeking to report a violation were urged to call 410-396-3050 or the nonemergency police number, 311.
In Anne Arundel County, residents can call 410-222-8610 to report suspected noncompliance, and businesses who want to apply for exemptions can call 410-222-8040.
Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger said the county will simply send suspected violators a written notice about the water restrictions.
Police will not be asked to patrol looking for violations, nor will they respond to calls. Possible violations can be reported by calling 410-887-2222.
In Westminster, authorities issued a single warning yesterday -- to a restaurant that left its timed sprinklers on.
Municipal officials on the East- ern Shore, where the drought has been less severe, say they are complying with state restrictions, even though wells that tap aquifers deep beneath the surface of the peninsula have continued to produce normally.
Mandatory restrictions have been in place in the Caroline County town of Preston since June -- not because of a water shortage but because demand was taxing the pumps at two 560-foot wells.
In the Baltimore area, city officials said yesterday that they will finish preparations for using a 38-mile pipeline from the Susquehanna over the weekend.
Changes in Harford
Harford County, which buys water from Baltimore to serve 32,000 residents, will shut its Abingdon filtration plant today to switch over to Susquehanna water.
For about 10 hours, the county's customers will have to get by on water stockpiled in storage tanks or pumped from the county's wells until the Susquehanna water starts to flow in.
"Our consumers will not see any interruption in service, and they won't see any changes in color," assured Sue Collins, a county spokeswoman.
Even so, county officials are appealing for greater water conservation this weekend among Harford residents.
After the Harford changeover is affected, city crews will need two or three more days to flush out corrosive, stagnant water that has been standing in the pipeline for five years -- the last time the Susquehanna was tapped.
As early as Monday, the city could begin pumping 100 million gallons a day from the river, enough to furnish one-third of current needs.
For all the confusion, and occasional anger, over the water cutbacks, some found them fodder for humor.
One Baltimore police officer pointed to the governor's advisory that listed how many gallons of water everyday chores take. One flush of a toilet uses four to seven gallons.
He penciled next to the warning: "Flush every other time."
Staff writers David L. Greene, Peter Hermann, Frank D. Roylance, Chris Guy and Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this article.
The restrictions
Here, in brief, are the statewide mandatory water restrictions ordered by Gov. Parris N. Glendening:
Yards: Grass may not be watered. Flowers, shrubs and vegetables may be watered from a bucket, can or hand-held hose.
Cars: Cars may not be washed, except in commercial washes that recycle at least 80 percent of their water.
Pools: Backyard pools may not be filled or topped off. But newly built pools may be filled. No restrictions on public pools serving 25 or more households.
Fountains: Ornamental fountains and waterfalls must be turned off. Ornamental pools may not be filled or topped off unless they contain live fish.
Paved surfaces: Sidewalks, driveways, parking lots may not be hosed down.
Restaurants: Patrons may not be served water unless they ask for it.
Business: Businesses using more than 10,000 gallons a day are asked to cut water use by 10 percent. Mandatory cuts might come later.
Pub Date: 8/06/99