A statewide drought declaration has Washington's billion-dollar nursery-and-landscape industry worried that it could suffer if customers downsize gardens out of a desire to save water or a fear of losing new greenery to possible watering restrictions.

The concern was strong enough that several major figures in the industry last week lobbied Gov. Christine Gregoire not to declare the drought emergency, which she did despite their pleas.

A statewide declaration, rather than one confined to areas of the state, would have "significant and severe repercussions for the Green Industry in terms of unemployment and business failures in many counties," Jens Molbak, chief executive officer of Molbak's nursery in Woodinville, wrote in an e-mail last week to Keith Phillips, Gregoire's environmental-policy adviser.

"Already consumers are asking us if they are going to lose their landscaping investment in their home gardens when water restrictions get enacted later this year. Right now this is an unnecessary fear," Molbak wrote.

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Gregoire is concerned about the possible impact on the nursery industry, Phillips said. But the governor said she believed information about current water supplies and forecasts of continuing dry weather warranted the drought declaration in Western Washington as well as Eastern Washington, Phillips said.

"She understood full well that with her declaration last week that the harm to nursery and landscape industries would be right away," he said. "Her thought was: If facing a little bit now makes the potential effects later in the season less, then that would be worth it."

Gregoire at the same time directed staff to explore ways to help the nursery-and-landscape industry, such as financial assistance for drought-related losses, he said.

With the drought emergency declared, nurseries are trying to assure people that they can still exercise their green thumbs while also conserving water.

"We're not panicking," said Wally Kerwin, owner of Swanson's Nursery in Seattle. "We're trying to treat customers that come in in a fair and honest way."

His nursery is stocking slightly fewer plants that demand lots of water, fielding questions from concerned gardeners and watching the bottom line for dips in business. Revenue this year is down about 10 percent from last year, Kerwin said. But the gardening season is just getting under way, and it's hard to know whether those results reflect drought concerns.

Plans put on hold

The industry's fears are being realized in at least some cases.

The day Gregoire authorized the drought declaration, the homeowners association in Bellevue's Tam O'Shanter neighborhood decided to do its part to help.

The group postponed thousands of dollars in landscaping work at its renovated clubhouse.

"Because of the drought coming up, we were trying to save all the water," said Kathy Scammell, a member of the association's board of directors.

The state is considering cutting back, too. The Capitol in Olympia may have fewer flower plantings this year to help conserve water, said Steve Valandra, spokesman for the Department of General Administration.

The nursery-and-landscape industry is carefully watching what government officials do and say about water supply and gardening. Jeanne McNeil, executive director of the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association, showed up last week at a news conference by King County Executive Ron Sims, seeking to gauge how gardening and landscaping were addressed.

ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Molbak's sells drought-tolerant plants including desert spoon.

And the industry is emphasizing that it's too early to know whether Western Washington water users will get hit by shortages.

Since the drought declaration, Molbak said, he is heartened by how state officials are delivering their message. Gregoire has emphasized that the immediate drought threat varies across the state.

"It all depends on how they communicate the message," Molbak said yesterday. "I think they've done a pretty good job so far."

Restrictions in years past

Restrictions on residential watering are some of the last steps water suppliers take to deal with shortages.

The last time Seattle imposed a restriction was in 1992, when it ordered people not to water their lawns, said Rich Gustav, resource-conservation manager for Seattle Public Utilities.

In 2001, the city asked people to voluntarily cut water use by 10 percent, which produced the needed savings.

Even if Seattle resorts to mandatory watering limits, it has an exemption for new landscaping — a provision added in 2001 to address concerns from the landscape-and-nursery industry, Gustav said.

Before going to even a voluntary cutback, the city would warn people that they might be asked to curb water use in the future. That hasn't happened yet in Seattle.

The Cascade Water Alliance, which supplies water to a number of Eastside cities, is weighing whether to issue an advisory, general manager Michael Gagliardo said.

In Tacoma, water superintendent John Kirner had a more sober message. He said water-use cutbacks are likely there, given the low water levels in the Green River basin and the pressure to keep some water in the river. The city also has an exemption for new landscaping, but that may be dropped out of concern that it's not fair, Kirner said.

"The advice I'm giving people is, given the current water-supply situation, if it were my lawn I don't think I'd install it this spring," he said.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com