North Carolina Governor Easley Calls Meeting Of Advisory Council As Drought Worsens

More Counties Now in Exceptional Drought Than Anytime This Year

12/14/2007 -- Raleigh - North Carolina Governor Mike Easley today announced that the Drought Management Advisory Council will hold a special meeting next week to review the latest status of the drought in North Carolina and discuss emergency response plans for communities in need. The latest federal drought map released Thursday shows more counties in exceptional drought than at any other time this year.

“I have been calling on residents across the state to conserve since the drought began last spring and we have had some good results,” said Easley. “However, the latest data shows that the drought keeps getting worse and that water use has increased. It is essential that everyone cut back to the absolute minimum amount of water they need to take care of their families.”

The Drought Management Advisory Council will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20 in the Ground Floor Hearing Room of the Archdale Building, 512 North Salisbury St., Raleigh. State experts will provide the status of the drought as well as an update on lake, stream and reservoir levels, available public water supplies and response activities. The meeting also will include discussion of the State Emergency Response Team's plans to respond to communities needing help during the drought. Easley created the Council following the 2002 drought to improve coordination among local, state and federal agencies and public water systems.

The latest federal drought map shows exceptional drought enveloping 78 counties including the mountains and most of the Piedmont and coastal plain. That is an increase of seven counties from last week and the most counties in the worst drought category since 72 were listed as exceptional on October 23rd. Nine other counties are currently experiencing extreme drought and 13 are in severe drought.

Easley praised those North Carolinians and local public water systems that are working hard to conserve water. As of Thursday, water use restrictions had been imposed on systems that serve 5.37 million people, or 79 percent of the people tracked by the state Division of Water Resources.

For the latest information on the drought affecting North Carolina, visit www.ncdrought.org. A complete list of drought busting tips for residential, government and industry is available on the state's water conservation website: www.p2pays.org/water. Citizens can monitor their community’s water use at the Water Resources website: www.ncwater.org/Drought_Monitoring/reduction/weeklyreport.php.

Source: North Carolina Governor