FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- Towns and communities statewide are facing severe water shortages, and many have been making sacrifices to help out.

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But imagine if when the rain finally came, the problem still didn't go away.

It's easy to take for granted just how simple it is to turn on the faucet and get drinking water, but only 3 percent of the water in the world is drinkable.

In Tennessee, the drought is highlighting the fact that water is more limited than some think.

Firefighters in rural Williamson County spent an hour battling a 60 acre blaze on Wednesday afternoon.

All of the water they used came from the county's water supply even though the Harpeth River runs right along the property.

“Due to it being dry and completely dried up, we're not able to use that resource, so we are strictly relying on fire hydrants,” said Chief Kevin Pratt of the Flat Creek Bethesda Fire Department.

The drought has turned smaller rivers like the Harpeth to trickles, and when cities rely on these rivers for water a stream of restrictions follow.

“They are undoubtedly unreliable sources of drinking water and communities that continue to rely on them will continue to have restrictions sooner than going to the big rivers,” said Dorene Bolze of the Harpeth River Watershed Association.

Some said that residents are wasting water and that it’s a problem that rain won’t wash away.

Bolze said it's happening on many levels and that a lack of long-term planning is leading to efficiency problems.

“Most everybody's getting their water from the Cumberland River and it goes through pipes that are owned by lots of different companies, and we don't have any standard practices for water efficiency,” she said.

The issue also falls back on the consumers, and taking fewer showers or limiting laundry is just the beginning.

The type of plants grown in residents’ yards play a part in how much water is needed, according to Bolze.

“It’s much more cost effective to plant landscaping that is used to drier summer conditions and that would reduce the average household's water needs about 40 percent,” Bolze said.

One way to limit how much residents use on lawns is to choose plants native to Tennessee because they can usually survive the summer without a lot of extra water.

Another efficiency problem Bolze cited is the number of different water companies in the area. For example, for Franklin area residents, there are five different companies that provide water.