Without rain in the next 11 days, Sanford Stadium may not look very lush the next time the football team takes the field.

Watering on campus is on a complete hold due to a level four watering ban in Athens-Clarke County.

“We gotta pray for rain,” said Assistant Athletic Director Charlie Whittemore, who is in charge of the stadium’s upkeep.

The county upgraded the ban from a level three to a level four Monday in response to the drought. Under level three, which had been in effect since Aug. 11, residents and the University could water one day a week between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. Level four prohibits watering of any kind by residents, government agencies and the University, which includes the stadium.

The only possible exceptions are businesses that rely on the water to stay open.

Physical Plant Director Dexter Adams said the only University areas that are still allowed to be watered are teaching gardens and nursery holding areas, which are individually monitored.

Whittemore said the University had a variance agreement with the county for the field under the level three ban. “We were allowed to water two days a week, but we used the same amount of water” as watering one day a week, he said.

The University also agreed not to water the track and parts of the football practice field as part of the variance agreement.

Now, “we’re in a ban,” said Whittemore. “We can’t get a variance.”

Whittemore said the athletic department would consider trucking in water for shrubbery around the Butts-Mehre building, Stegeman Coliseum and other athletic buildings.

“But you can’t truck in enough (water) for a football field,” he said.

If it doesn’t rain, Whittemore said there is no plan to paint the field to look healthier.

He did say, though, that the field might hold up better without rain than it did last month due to the temperature drop at night.

Adams said the University has no back-up plan if rain does not come.

“I guess you could dig wells, but environmentally, that’s just moving the problem around,” he said. “When you run out, you run out.”

The precipitation deficit for Jan. 1-Sept. 12 is 14 inches, according to the public utilities Web site.

A first-time violation of the watering ban results in a written warning.

A second violation under a level four ban is a $1,000 fine.