Our world is surrounded by water. We have oceans on each end. There is the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast. The Gulf of Mexico lies on our southern coast and the Pacific Ocean on the west coast. There is also the Artic Ocean on the upper northern coast. We also have a lot of lakes, rivers, and creeks that make up our country. We use them every day and for many different things.



We fish in our rivers for all kinds of different fish. We swim in many of our creeks. Some people use the mud from them to make bricks for some of their buildings. They use the drift wood that comes down our lakes and rivers to make beautiful things for people to buy when they visit that state. We go boating and skiing on our lakes to just have some fun.

Our communities obtain their city water supply from these lakes. If there is not a lot of rain to replenish our lakes, our communities have the right to install what they call water bans. We use this water to water our gardens and our lawns. We wash our clothes, our dishes, and our bodies with water from these same lakes. Communities that are on the same water lines also use this water. If a water ban is put into place, it has several restrictions that will go into effect. There are five different stages in these bans. Here are some of the restrictions:

1. They limit the times you can water your yards. Sometimes, you can water different sides of the street on different days. Sometimes they will make it according to the odd or even number on your house. They may even make it to depend on what side of town you are in. If the second ban goes into effect, this is what they might do.

2. They will put stricter limitations on the time you can water. Sometimes, you can only water between six to eight in the morning and so on down the other streets. If still not enough rain has fallen, they can and will put up the bans again.

3. This time, they will limit how often you can wash your clothes and will even tell you to take baths instead of showers. They will sometimes tell you to reuse your bath water. If they have to install a fourth ban, this can happen.

4. If and when this ban is put into effect, they will start fining people who break these bans, and the fines are very high. The homeowner can lose their water rights for however long the city officials enforce this ban. If they have another ban in place, it is best to call your local city official and ask him or her what restrictions are being enforced and how long this ban will be.