If drought

conditions continue to persist, Coweta County residents

may soon see their lawns transformed from a sea of green

to brown.

Under a

drought management plan approved by the Coweta County

Commission Tuesday night, outdoor water use could be

limited to only farm and emergency usage and industries

would be monitored on a weekly basis to see if they're

attempting to conserve water.

That's the

worst case scenario that would be implemented if the

drought became severe. Under this level four plan, water

consumption would be reduced by 30 percent.

Other

scenarios include:

� Level one management includes all

uses allowed, but voluntary restrictions encouraged. The

water consumption rate would be lowered by 5 percent.

� Level two would mandate water

conservation. All residential customers would be required

to maximize conservation and would be told that the next

restrictions would be severe. The goal for reducing the

water consumption would be 10 percent.

� Level three would implement outdoor

water restrictions that would limit outdoor watering to

once a week on an odd/even day watering schedule.

Commercial

and development landscaping would be limited to once a

week and the county would shoot for a 25 percent

reduction in water use.

Commission

Chairman Vernon "Mutt" Hunter agreed with the

plan, but cautioned water director Harry Hughes that the

county would have to agree with water restrictions from

other jurisdictions where it purchases water.

For

example, Hunter said Coweta and Fayette are currently

involved in talks that would allow Coweta to purchase

some of Fayette's water on a long-term basis.

If the deal

goes through, it would only be fair to implement the same

restrictions on the water use that Fayette County has, he

said.

Hughes said

that was taken into consideration when the plan was

developed.