Rain on its way to Georgia, but not enough to stop state's devastating drought conditions

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, almost the entire state of Georgia is experiencing drought conditions.

Some rain is on the way, but experts say it won't be enough to pull us out of it.

Local officials, including Danny Johnson, the director of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, are closely monitoring the conditions.

The district works with 97 cities and 15 counties across metro Atlanta to protect the region's water sources.

"Georgia has limited water supplies across the state," Johnson said. "What we do with our resources that can have impacts on our rivers, streams, and reservoirs that overall manage and allow us [to] manage and better be resilient to these types of drought."

Johnson said there are steps homeowners can take to help conserve water, such as fixing leaks or running toilets.

"It's important to know that if you have those things, you could be wasting thousands of gallons a month or year, and that can make a difference," Johnson said.

He also suggested making sure your irrigation systems are running efficiently.

"In Georgia, we're only allowed to water between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m.," Johnson said. "What that does is it allows us to use our water more efficiently so we're not watering during the hottest parts of the day when up to half of that water could be evaporated before it even hits the ground."

CBS Atlanta Meteorologist Dagmar Midcap said the region would need consistent rainfall rather than one big rain event to end the drought.

"We would need two to three rain events at 1 to 1 and a half inches per week for the next two to four months," Midcap said. "Breaking that down, we would need probably anywhere from a quarter to 3/4 of an inch every 24 hours for the next three to four months."

We'll eventually get some rain, but it might not be much.

"Over the next seven to 10 days, it does not look good for us," Midcap said. "There are a few weak fronts that will sweep through, giving more rain to the Midwest, but they're fading out by the time they get to Georgia.  So, the amount of rain we might see will come in the form of a pop-up thunderstorm here or there, or some showers lingering from a thunderstorm that imploded in on itself, and that's about it."

Johnson said people can make an impact when it comes to conserving water by doing some of those small things at home. Another example of an at-home way to conserve water is to turn off your faucet while brushing your teeth.

While it might not seem like much, Johnson said it all adds up.