VIDALIA, La. – The plants at Cora Morace’s garden center don’t know a water shortage exists — they just know they’re thirsty.

&uot;We’ve installed a drip watering system that uses one-fifth the water, although less than one-fourth of our plants — the larger ones — are watered that way,&uot;&160;said Morace, owner of Anderson’s Gardens and Gifts near Vidalia. &uot;On the rest, I usually water twice a day … but I&160;try not to water them until they droop a little.&uot;

For almost two weeks now, Morace and the rest of Concordia Waterworks’ 8,000-plus customers have been asked to conserve water as much as possible due to a systemwide water shortage caused primarily by near-drought conditions over the past three summers.

District board President Edgar Jones said Friday that water demand, which hit a near-record of 1.34 million gallons Aug. 20, has gone down slightly, &uot;mostly due to the rains they had in the Vidalia area&uot; last week.

On Friday Manager Charles Renfrow, who has more specific demand figures, was busy repairing small leaks caused by dry, shifting ground throughout the system and could not be reached for comment.

Morace confesses her business is a &uot;monster water user, … maybe Concordia Waterworks’ biggest customer.&uot;

But with district officials saying the system might run completely dry if water usage is not rationed — and with her business so dependent on it — she is taking steps to conserve water.

&uot;Our water usage has probably doubled to tripled in recent years due to the drought and due to the fact that we’re increasing our inventory,&uot;&160;Morace said.

With the new drip system, Morace used 13,695 gallons of water last month — still high, but a little less that previous months.

She added that she installed her first drip watering system, a water hose with small sprinklers installed at regular intervals, last summer. And she plans to continue installing more drip systems in the coming months, using larger oscillating sprinklers in the meantime.

&uot;We thought about drilling our own wells to get water, but there’s too much iron in the water to make treating it ourselves cost-effective,&uot; Morace said.

Morace, who lives in an apartment above her shop, said she is also conserving water at home. &uot;There are bigger piles of laundry, for one thing,&uot;&160;she said, laughing.

Meanwhile, district officials are still asking customers to water lawns and gardens, fill pools and wash cars as little as possible until further notice.

Morace said many of her customers are conserving water, but not by choice.

&uot;They don’t use as much water — but just because their flowers have died,&uot;&160;Morace said. &uot;They don’t have anything to water any more.&uot;