Combating the Worst Drought in North Carolina History

"Operation Halve-It"

November 9, 2007

UNION COUNTY NC NEWS -- On October 22, 2007, attempting to combat the worst drought in North Carolina history, Governor Easley instituted "Operation Halve-It," a program which monitors water consumption by the state's public water systems through his office. The Governor requested each of the state's public water systems to increase reporting to the state, by recording the amount of water used daily and sending that information weekly to his office. That data collected by the Governor's office is now being used to establish a baseline of water use to determine which water conservation measures are most effective. The information is then released to the public to educate and inform them of success water conservation campaigns. In addition, to creating the program, the Governor also requested North Carolinians to conserve water use by as much as 50 percent by Halloween.

Currently, water utilities representing 72 percent of the 6.8 million customers served by public water systems responded to the Governor's call to provide information on water use. Daily water use in North Carolina shows an average decrease of nearly 30 percent from the month of August compared to the last week of October. These indications are based on analysis of information from the 25 largest public water systems in the state.

Governor Easley thanked North Carolina citizens by saying, "I appreciate the cooperation of everyone in the state in their efforts to conserve and provide this important information. The data collected last week, which will continue to be collected through the drought, will help us track our water use. We now know we can conserve. But it must become habit since it is unlikely the drought will lift anytime soon." The Governor added, "My goal was lofty, but all citizens must cut water use as much as they can. Given the situation nearly all of North Carolina faces, we cannot afford to do any less."

While some water systems showed significant savings, others reported more modest results. In addition, the information collected is helping the Governor's office identify those regions and systems that must do more to save water and avoid more drastic measures.

The good news is that 25 largest public water systems in the state saw some dramatic drops in water use, such as nearly 48 percent in Union County when comparing average daily water use in the month of August to the last week of October.

The chart below compares the daily water consumption for each week in October with the average daily use in August for the state's largest public water systems.

Unfortunately, the federal drought map (top) shows that the drought has worsened from last week as dry conditions continue to prevail in North Carolina. Now, 92 counties, 10 more than last week, are categorized in the top three levels of drought: exceptional, extreme and severe. The other eight counties in the coastal plain and northern Piedmont are experiencing moderate drought, the least severe level of drought in the four-category system.

Meanwhile, water systems that serve 5.35 million North Carolinians have instituted voluntary or mandatory restrictions on water usage. That means that nearly 79 percent of the residents in the 615 public water systems the state tracks are subject to water use restrictions. The state tracks all local government-owned systems, privately-owned systems with 1,000 or more service connections or serving at least 3,000 people and privately-owned water systems on voluntary or mandatory restrictions.