Water Use

Area municipalities that aren’t already banning lawn watering should do so, because drought conditions are worsening, Duke Energy announced Thursday.

Duke declared a Stage 3 low inflow condition for the Catawba-Wateree River Basin, which affects municipalities surrounding Charlotte, including Gastonia, Lincolnton, Statesville and others.

Mecklenburg County became the first in the area to implement Stage 3 water restrictions last week, prohibiting all lawn watering. Duke wants other areas, which may be under lesser restrictions, to follow suit.

Duke says no local government should be allowing people to water their grass, but implementation and enforcement of those restrictions is up to each municipality.

More than half of North Carolina is now is the most severe category of drought.

A weekly report from the U.S. Drought Monitor says that 55 of the state’s 100 counties are now experiencing an “exceptional” drought. In all, 47 counties moved to “exceptional” from “extreme” drought conditions in the latest report.

Among those now listed in the worst category are the Triangle area counties of Wake, Johnston, Durham and Orange.

In the rest of the state, 31 counties are still in extreme drought, while 14 have moderate to severe drought conditions.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Video Link:WCNC Report, 10-3-2007

The following article is reporinted from the Charlotte Observer:

10 ways you can cope with our dry weather

NANCY BRACHEY

Garden Editor, Charlotte Observer

We’re gardening in a time of drought. It’s something we’ve experienced a lot over the past decade — including one long stretch lasting five years. For the first time, lawn watering is now prohibited in Mecklenburg County and elsewhere in the Piedmont. And we’re being encouraged to conserve water in a lot of ways, including gardening. So, we’ll have to learn to live with dry times and embrace the techniques and strategies that make for smarter gardening in a drought. Here are some:

1.Embrace native plants. They tolerate dry weather. Some of our best plants: eastern redbud, purple coneflower, eastern columbine and black-eyed Susans (below). For an excellent guide to landscaping with native trees, shrubs and perennials: www.ncwildflower.org.

2.Plan your landscape with water conservation in mind. Learn the water needs of plants before you buy them. For example, impatiens are thirsty plants for summer bedding, zinnias are not. Group plants that require steady watering together so you don’t water ones that don’t need it, such as many kinds of herbs and fuzzy-leaved perennials such as lambs ears.

3.Commit yourself to excellent bed preparation for your shrubs, flowers and vegetables this fall and next spring. Use compost and other organic materials to lighten clay soil and help it hold moisture without becoming soggy.

4. Use mulch, but not too much. Mulch your trees, shrubs and flower beds with pine needles, compost, leaf litter or finely shredded bark to conserve moisture. Mulch should be 2 to 4 inches deep. Don’t put mulch against tree trunks.

5.Create natural areas in places where it is difficult to grow grass, even under normal weather conditions. This includes under the canopy of large shade trees.

6.Don’t let clean water go down the drain. If you wait for the water to warm up before stepping in the shower, pop in a plastic bucket to catch this cool water. Apply the same technique in your kitchen with a large pitcher set under the faucet to catch any clean water that would otherwise go down the drain. Use it on your houseplants and container gardens.

7.Use ground covers. There are lots to choose from, including ajuga (below), hardy ferns, hellebores, creeping phlox and many more for sun or shade.

8.Use devices that drip, seep or ooze water in shrub and flower beds and vegetable gardens, where allowed, such as in Mecklenburg. Place these little hoses under mulch. Water will drip onto the root zones, and not be wasted by runoff. Best-known ones are called soaker hoses. Mulch reduces evaporation.

9.Get a rain barrel. This will capture rainfall (when it does fall) via a downspout directed into the barrel. Attach your hose to a faucet near the bottom. Barrels are sold widely. To see how they work: www.moriver.org/programs.html or, in greater detail, www.cwp.org/Community_Watersheds/brochure.pdf

10.Love your watering can. You’ll be more likely to use only what you need. Use it to water containers and newly planted shrubs and trees. You can put water on slowly, avoid runoff and let it flow exactly where you want it. Hand-watering is still allowed most places.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE GRASS?

• New restrictions issued this week prohibit grass watering in Mecklenburg County and other places. Meanwhile, you can still water flowers, shrubs and trees and containers.

• So, should you be worried about the state of your lawn? If your fescue lawn is in reasonably good shape, it should recover as the weather cools and some rainfall arrives to perk it up. But don’t expect the rapid and robust growth you would see with steady rainfall or regular irrigation.

• What next? Just hold tight. The weather may be good enough for lawn renewal work, such as overseeding, in late October and November. And if necessary, we’ll just wait until late February or early March.

Nancy Brachey’s column, Ask Nancy, will focus on drought questions in coming weeks. Send yours to nbrachey@charlotteobserver.com or call (704) 375-4892.

 Belmont is tightening some of its mandatory water use restrictions that resulted from the recent Stage 2 declaration.

Effective immediately, the watering of lawns is prohibited at all times. This includes not only the continued prohibition against any type of irrigation or sprinkler system, as banned under Stage 2, but now includes lawn watering with the use of a hand-held hose.

The watering of plants, shrubs, or trees may continue using a hand-held hose with a spring-loaded nozzle on the schedule of days and times specified in the Stage 2 regulations. Also banned are ornamental fountains.

Civil penalties for violating any of the mandatory water use rules will remain as for Stage 2: up to $100 for residential customers and $500 for commercial or industrial customers, with possible disconnection for continued violations.

The actions are in anticipation of a Stage 3 water restriction, which is likely to occur within the next few weeks.

For more information, call the Belmont City Hall at 704-825-5586.

Source Article

Does this mean the fountain at Stowe Park too?

What about the football field and baseball field at South Point?

Does that mean the folks out at Belle Meade and Reflection Pointe have to stop watering?

What if we all just put out signs that say, “Well Water Used For Irrigation”, does that count?

How water restrictions are decided:

Wondering who and what decides local water restrictions?

At their heart is Duke Energy, which manages the Catawba River reservoirs under a federal hydroelectric license that expires in 2008. In negotiating terms of a new license, Duke created a drought-response plan that’s getting its first test.

How it works

The plan is designed to stretch water supplies during a dry spell.Twenty-four local governments, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities, belong to an advisory group that puts the plan into action. Each enacts its own water restrictions based on shared conservation goals.

Duke monitors three conditions: lake levels, for how much water is in its reservoirs; stream flows that feed the lakes; and the U.S. Drought Monitor.

As the drought drags on

The plan sets trigger points to respond to conditions.

At Stage 1, declared July 30, Duke reduced the amount of water released from its dams and closed some boat ramps as lake levels fell. Local water agencies asked customers to reduce water demand 3 percent to 5 percent.

At Stage 2, in effect Aug. 27, Duke further cut water releases, shutting down most of its hydro plants. Local governments set mandatory restrictions with a conservation goal of 5 percent to 10 percent.

More cuts to come?

Stage 3 awaits, probably later in October if no rain falls.Duke would further lower lake levels, especially at Lakes James and Norman, which hold most of the system’s water. Lake James could fall to as much as 15 feet below full pond in October. The winter months could take it still lower.

Municipal water users could face more restrictions to meet a Stage 3 conservation goal of 10 percent to 20 percent. The watering ban last week by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities and several other cities is as harsh as it’s likely to get for homeowners. Charlotte-Mecklenburg says it would turn to cuts among large industrial and commercial customers.

Stage 4 would further clamp down, with a goal of cutting water use 20 percent to 30 percent.

If rain doesn’t come

The Catawba won’t run out of water. But lake levels could drop to the point that intakes for power plants, municipalities and industries can’t pump water.

The region’s conservation efforts are trying to prevent that.

At Lake Norman, for instance, the critical intake-covering level is 10 feet below full pond. The lake is now 6.5 feet below full. Since a lot of water depth is under the intake, the lake could be left with billions of gallons — all out of reach.

From the Charlotte Observer  

JOE DEPRIEST AND REBECCA SULOCK

Staff Writers

In Gastonia, the city still has plenty of good quality water, but continues to urge conservation, according to Ed Cross, division manager of water supply and treatment.

The city, which has mandatory Stage 2 water restrictions in place, gets its water from Mountain Island Lake and supplies the towns of Cramerton, McAdenville, Lowell, Ranlo and Clover, S.C. Cross said between 80,000 to 100,000 people depend on Gastonia for water.

The biggest impact under a Stage 3 drought would be the banning of outdoor sprinkler systems for lawns, Cross said. All outdoor watering would have to be done by hand-held nozzles.

City of Belmont officials are asking residents to cut back or stop lawn-watering, and to wait to plant or reseed lawns until the region gets significant rainfall, said City Manager Barry Webb. Belmont officials also sent out letter to its top dozen or so water users, including Spartan Dyers and Wal-Mart, letting them know Stage 3 restrictions could be coming and asking for conservation now

Current measures in Gastonia have reduced water usage by 11 percent since August, Cross said. The goal under Stage 2 restrictions is reducing usage by 5 to 10 percent.

“We’re doing relatively well,” Cross said. “But if the drought continues we’ll have to reassess things.”

His biggest concern for a Stage 4 emergency would be going to a water allocation program for residences and businesses.

“That would be phenomenally complicated,” Cross said. “But what else can you do?”