The quick answer, not this year. But look out for next year and the next if the current statewide drought status — abnormally dry here and out to the coast with a normal swath through Rocky Mount and Greenville, moderate drought through the middle of the state, severe drought in the mountains and extreme drought in a few counties in the very west. See https://www.drought.gov/states/North-Carolina#current-conditions
The 2007-2008 drought did not sneak up on us; people were talking about it, even preparing for it early in 2007, but it really hit home in May 2007 when Raleigh announced it would begin water restrictions the first of July, fearing we were heading for a repeat of the drought of 2005. Residents of Raleigh and all the towns its water from Falls Lake is piped to — Wake Forest, Garner, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon — learned that homeowners with a watering system could only water the grass three days a week, half Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and the other half Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. No watering on Monday. If you watered your lawn or flowers with a hose you could water at any time and the same was true if the water came from a cistern or water barrel. Even then, there was no watering on Mondays. The city started selling water barrels.
If the water police found you watering when you should not, they first gave you a warning. For the second and third violations, there were fines of $50 and $200. If you persisted and violated the restrictions a fourth time, the city would cut off your water. Also, Raleigh water users had to install separate meters for installed watering systems. And Wake Forest water users were paying the old town rates while paying off the $18 million or more it took to upgrade the towns water and sewer systems.
By late June, early July and despite those conservation measures, the water level in Falls Lake was falling rapidly. The Gazette, in its July 11 issue reported:
“The level of Falls Lake, the drinking water supply for over 350,000 people in Wake County, has been falling precipitously in recent days as drought conditions worsen, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the lake, predicts it will continue to fall, triggering more water conservation measures.
“Early Wednesday morning, July 11, the unofficial level of Falls Lake was 249.6 feet above mean sea level, almost two feet below its normal level of 251.5 feet.
“On Monday, when the lake level was half a foot higher than on Wednesday, the Corps’ weekly report said the water capacity in the lake was at 81 percent.
“Terry M. Brown, the water control manager for the Corps Wilmington District, released a prediction Monday that the lake level would be at 248.55 by July 31, at 246.68 by Aug. 31.
“During the drought of 2005, the lake level fell to 243 feet in October.
“The city can go to Stage 1 mandatory water rules when the water capacity in the lake is at 70 percent or less, to Stage 2 rules when the capacity is at 50 percent or less.
“Meanwhile, despite the new conservation measures, Raleigh water customers have been using record amounts of water. Saturday, the E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant on Falls of the Neuse Road recorded an all-time one-day record, pumping out 70.6 million gallons.
“The city has been enforcing the new conservation regulations and has already issued 202 warning citations.
“Despite some local showers and thunderstorms, the local rainfall deficit for the year stood at 4.7 inches Wednesday, and there are scanty to zero inflows into Falls Lake from its tributaries, the Eno, Flat and Little rivers.”
It was a hot summer and high water use continued in Raleigh. The Gazette had an article about the drought in almost every issue and often it was the lead article. In the August 15 issue:
“In Wake Forest, Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said consumption has decreased and there have been no peaks in the water use. “We’re significantly down,” he said and added that for the most part people have been complying with the three-day-a-week schedule: odd-numbered addresses watering on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, even numbered-addresses watering on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
“Also, some of the water Wake Forest residents use does not come from Falls Lake. The City of Raleigh is continuing to operate the G.G. Hill Water Treatment Plant on N.C. 98 (Wait Avenue) and pumps about 1.2 mgd into the town’s water pipes each day.”
Mud flats were visible in the upper reaches of Falls Lake and a healthy growth of grass covered many. Much more severe water rationing was looming. The Dec. 6 Gazette issue had this:
“The City of Raleigh may impose Stage 2 water restrictions when there is less than a 90-day water supply left in Falls Lake. There were 101 days left Tuesday, and we could dip below the 90-day mark before Christmas.
“First, one of the Stage 2 conditions is that water treated by the city may not be used to fill, flush, or test new water main extensions.
“Water lines must be tested before new homes and businesses can be occupied, and this new restriction could heavily impact a home-building industry that has already slowed this year.
“Second, a host of other businesses would be affected by Stage 2 restrictions. They include outdoor landscaping companies and plant nurseries because outdoor watering of any kind is prohibited; car washes except those that recycle the water and are certified by the city; power washing, which is prohibited; and swimming pool repair and construction, because pools may not be filled.
“Third, Governor Mike Easley has asked all North Carolinians to cut back on their water use. He first asked for a 50 percent reduction, a goal which was not reached, and now says people have begun to get slack in their habits, reflected in increased usage across the state. He is asking you to take short showers, turn off the water while you brush your teeth, run the dishwasher and washing machine only with full loads and think before you turn on the tap.
“For businesses, achieving a 50 percent reduction in water use may mean cutting some production, even letting some employees go.
“Fourth, restaurants will be forbidden to serve water except on request, hotels will ask guests to use towels and sheets more than one day, and “all non-essential use of water for commercial or public use is prohibited.”
“Finally, this is the drought of record for this area, and we do not know yet just how low, how bad, that record will be. There could be even tighter restrictions on water use next spring or summer if there is no substantial rainfall.
Current conditions
“Falls Lake is the only water source for the 400,000-plus people the Raleigh system serves across central, northern and eastern Wake County.
“Only 28 percent of the water supply held in Falls remained this week.
“At 8 a.m. Tuesday, the unofficial level for the lake was 242.02 feet above mean sea level, 9.48 feet below its normal level of 251.5. The lake level falls each day, often from hour to hour. You can track it: http://epec.saw.usace.army.mil/dssfalls.txt.
“It is about 8 inches below what had been the record low reached in 1993 and more than 11 inches below the lowest lake level in the 2005 drought. In 2005, the drought had eased by this time in the year because of increased rainfall.
“This year has seen the driest November since rainfall recording began at Raleigh-Durham Airport, with a rainfall deficit of 8.9 inches, and Wake County, along with a broad swath of the state, is in an exceptional drought.”
For several weeks the mayors, town managers and residents of Wake County towns had thought that Raleigh was not responding quickly enough to the drought conditions. This is from the February 6, 2008 Gazette:
“The mayors and managers of six Wake County towns bluntly told the City of Raleigh last Friday to get tougher and more realistic about water conservation during this historic drought.
“The mayors – including Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones – told Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker the city needs to impose Stage 2 water conservation measures by Feb. 15 and not wait for the end of February or when Falls Lake dips to a 90-day water supply level.
“The Raleigh City Council’s Public Works Committee recommended last week that the city begin Stage 2 on Feb. 28.
“In the past few months as the lake level fell, Wake Forest’s town board has sent two letters to Meeker and Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen urging tougher water conservation measures, and the boards in Wendell and Zebulon have sent similar letters recently.”
Raleigh did impose Stage 2 water restrictions but shortly after the area began to receive some rain and the Gazette headline was Rain,rain wonderful rain! The March 12 article said:
‘Yes, it rained a lot. And yes, Falls Lake has rebounded dramatically and by Wednesday at noon was at 248.8 only 2.7 feet below its normal level of 251.5 feet above mean sea level.
“But the City of Raleigh does not intend to rescind the Stage 2 water restrictions in the near future.
“The drought may have eased because of the rain – the drought update will be issued tomorrow, Thursday – but the weather forecasters are not saying it is time to turn on the spigots. Last week’s update still showed the Triangle area still in an exceptional, worst-case drought.”
The drought continued to ease that year, while at the same time the economic upheaval that slashed the home building numbers in Wake Forest and nationally took hold. People felt that the country was in crisis along with their pocketbooks. It felt like stumbling from one disaster to another.
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