Rainy, Raleigh's water conservation mascot.

"We're estactic today. When I got the paper and opened it up and saw that the restrictions had been taken back down to Stage 1, I just kept re-reading it," explained Joe Stoffregen. "It was just this day we've been waiting for."

Stoffregen owns Homewood Nursery. Since Stage 2 conservation measures took effect in mid-February, all outdoor use of Raleigh water has been banned. That was bad news for Homewood and other businesses that depend on water.

"Our sales in the month of March alone were down $100,000, and for a small a business, that's a significant part of our annual income," Stoffregen said.

News Conference

Watch the 16 minute news conference with Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and City Manager Russell Allen.

Stage 1

Falls Lake is now full and the City of Raleigh has scaled back to stage one conservation measures. Reporter Ann Forte has more in this report.

Stage 1 mandatory water use restrictions reduce the days irrigation is allowed to one day per week. Odd property addresses are permitted on Tuesdays and even property addresses on Wednesdays.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said such measures could become permanent.

"We're not going back to all-day, any-day watering," Meeker said.

The entire Stage 1 water use restrictions are listed here or are available by contacting the City of Raleigh Public Utilities at (919) 857-4540 or City of Raleigh Public Affairs Department at (919) 890-3100.

The Stage 1 mandatory water use restrictions apply to all City of Raleigh water customers, including those in nearby towns that have merged their water and sewer systems with Raleigh and therefore also receive water from Raleigh. Those towns are Garner, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon.

The first violation of the Stage 1 mandatory water restrictions is a $200 fine, and a second violation would result in a $1,000 civil penalty. A third violation would result in interruption of the customer’s water service from the City.