North Carolina Gov. Easley Says Citizens Still Need To Conserve Despite Last Week’s Rain

Drought Map Shows Some Improvement But Drought is Far From Over

11/1/2007 -- Raleigh - North Carolina Governor Mike Easley today called on all citizens, including those who rely on private wells, to continue their water conservation efforts even though last week’s rains lessened the severity of drought throughout much of North Carolina. Last week’s rainfall, which dropped up to six inches in parts of the state and only one inch in others, helped many parched wells, reservoirs and streams. The effects of the rain are shown in the latest federal drought map, which shows that the number of counties in exceptional drought, the worst level of drought, decreased from 72 counties to 22 counties.

“Even though we are seeing some improvement in the drought map since last week’s rain, every county is still in some form of drought,” said Easley. “The effect of that rainfall could likely be short-lived, as climatologists are predicting a drier-than-average winter, so we all need to continue to conserve.”

For that reason, the governor renewed his call today for all North Carolina citizens, including those on well water, to eliminate outdoor water use such as irrigation, car washing or hosing paved surfaces. He said those whose source of water is a private well should be conserving water just like people who receive water supplied by a reservoir, because all sources of water are important to sustain during the drought. The governor said that many people are under the wrong impression that people who rely on well water for everyday use are not affected by low supplies in public water systems.

State and federal officials who monitor ground water by measuring the water levels in 45 so-called drought indicator wells statewide have found that those wells are approaching or exceeding record lows. The N.C. Division of Water Resources and the U.S. Geological Survey monitor ground water levels in those wells because the drought indicator wells respond to rainfall quickly and their levels are a measure of the amount of water stored in the subsurface that is available to discharge to surface water features such as lakes and ponds.

Due to the drought, many people are required to restrict their water use because many surface water reservoirs are draining more quickly than they are restored by rainfall. To get around this restriction, some people have been using well water to wash their cars and irrigate their lawns and proclaim that their well use is not restricted by some public water system ordinance. Although this is true, their use of well water for those purposes is wasteful and can decrease the amount of water available for others.

For the latest information on the drought affecting North Carolina, please visit www.ncdrought.org.

Source: North Carolina Governor