"Severe" Drought

[dmccall]

Here is another idea whose time has come: simply outlaw new in-ground lawn irrigation systems that are connected to the city water supply. If you have that kind of money, you should be installing an underground cistern to catch your roof runoff and a water pump to water your @#$$% fescue.

[DB78]

While we're at it, let's dictate how people drive their cars (you don't need to go rent that movie - read a $%^# book) and how they use their electricity, too (you don't need to be on that computer - write letters).

If you have enough money to own these energy eaters, then you have enough money to set up a small energy plant in your yard, too.

[swimmer8866]

Bottom line with Falls Lake. Last year the corp of engineers released water in the late spring, then the summer 90+ days of over 90+ degree heat little rain AND PEOPLE WATERING THEIR LAWNS used over 70 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER A DAY from falls lake. Then late in september when the lake was now down 9 feet someone said uhoh we are running out of water!!

Look at JORDAN LAKE!! It is at 99% FULL TODAY!! Feb 12th! Why?? Because Cary and the other towns that use the lake HAVE HAD RESTRICTIONS for years!!!

There is and was total mismanagement of Falls Lake by the POLITICIANS that are running the CITY of Raleigh! Yes Mayor you made a mistake. You waited too long to impose real restrictions on water use. So falls lake is half full today a lake 20 miles from Jordan lake.

Now its is going to rain buckets wednesday as I look at the radar tonight and hope we can add a couple of feet to Falls lake by the weekend.

Better get rain fill up the lake then all the people in Raleigh need to start to ask hard questions of the people you have elected to make better decisions when it comes to water resources.

[ChiefJoJo]

While we're at it, let's dictate how people drive their cars (you don't need to go rent that movie - read a $%^# book) and how they use their electricity, too (you don't need to be on that computer - write letters).

If you have enough money to own these energy eaters, then you have enough money to set up a small energy plant in your yard, too.

[swimmer8866]

Well Falls lake recieved about 1 inch and a bit more over the water shed area. It will add about 1 foot to the lake. The Jordan lake system had almost 1.5 inches and should raise the lake to ABOVE SUMMER POOL of 216 feet later this week!! That means FULL! So what is wrong with the Raleigh system???

Lets start pointing fingers.

just like why in the world would the state of North Carolina drop a burning ban in january??? Did you see what burned in the state sunday and monday in this historic drought!

Great gov Easly right on point! What a ....

[Jones_]

I laughed at ^^^ commentary. Part of me thinks some people revel when bad things like the drought happen because it gives them an opportunity to dictate to others how to live. The person you quoted obviously has some power and control issues to work out.

Personally, I suggest more people take a 'navy shower.' Get yourself wet in the shower. Then shut the water off the whole time you are soaping your body and hair. Only turn the water back on to get the soap and shampoo off. You'll probably save 10 gallons or more per shower and it's no biggie. Pass along the idea. If word of mouth got 1% of the city to do something simple like navy showers, we'd save millions of gallons every month.

[DB78]

All he is saying is water ought to be used primarily for drinking, and there are ways we can be more efficient with tertiary uses like lawn irrigation. The drought is a wake up call that business as usual with respect to natural resources cannot continue. Everybody doing there own thing is cool if you have a personal well, but so long as you live in the city, I'm affected by how you use your water, and so on. So we all must abide by some reasonable rules in order to share the water we have, and I guess the debate will be about what "reasonable" is. Personally, given the historic nature of the drought, I think it's completely reasonable to provide incentives or even require that particularly larger water customers reuse graywater or collect some amount of stormwater runoff for their property's irrigation needs.

Interestingly, I saw on the news last night that Raleigh councilor Rodger Koopman said he's considering pushing for a moratorium on all new building permits. Now that would be something!

[swimmer8866]

Raleigh was using almost 70 yes 70 million gallons a day in august when we hit over 100 degrees 11 times!

Fools were watering lawns at 1pm during the summer afternoons!!! Dumb as you know what.

Again look at Jordan Lake today it is only 20 miles away from Falls lake. Why is IT FULL?? Yes today it went to 216 feet which is a full summer pool. Falls lake after 1.20 inches of rain is still over 8 feet below summer pool. WHY?? Because of Raleighs Mis management!

[Spatula]

Raleigh uses Lake Wheeler, and I think also Lake Benson as an auxiliary water supply. Have we had to use those yet?

[Gard]

Raleigh uses Lake Wheeler, and I think also Lake Benson as an auxiliary water supply. Have we had to use those yet?

[swimmer8866]

Raleigh uses Lake Wheeler, and I think also Lake Benson as an auxiliary water supply. Have we had to use those yet?

[RaleighRob]

So yesterday at my gym, I was walking in the locker room. As I went by a urinal, it flushed automatically...having one of those "motion sensors" as a flusher. I stopped and wondered how much is wasted on those? You can't even do the "if it's yellow let it mellow" if you even want to. They simply flush everytime they sense someone go by!

And there's tons of them out there...restaurants, malls, libraries, etc.

They should be banned. Complete waste of water right there.

[Spatula]

There are gravity urinals that don't use any water at all. Those would be the logical choice to install.

I personally don't see why we don't just clean up our sewage water until it's reclaimable, then send it back to water treatment centers to make an almost self-contained loop.

There are a lot of cities on the west coast that do that because they have to. There's almost no fresh water anywhere.

[Jones_]

There are gravity urinals that don't use any water at all. Those would be the logical choice to install.

I personally don't see why we don't just clean up our sewage water until it's reclaimable, then send it back to water treatment centers to make an almost self-contained loop.

There are a lot of cities on the west coast that do that because they have to. There's almost no fresh water anywhere.

[Jones_]

Latest news.....the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is creating a new Deputy Director position within the Division of Water Resources which will focus soley on statewide water supplies. The fragmented response because of the way things were previously set up, is now getting a centralized point of contact. The job posting will be from Feb 15th to March 3...not sure if it will be an internal or external posting....

[swimmer8866]

So how is Jordan Lake Full? Yes 100%... Feb 15th during this drought?

In fact today the lake is over summer full pool at 216.36 feet. Falls Lake is at 48% full? 20 miles away??

[jlblaes]

In fact today the lake is over summer full pool at 216.36 feet. Falls Lake is at 48% full? 20 miles away??

[Spatula]

It's also a larger lake under less stress.

[RaleighRob]

The big issue is that the drainage basin for the two are very different. The water that goes into Jordan is from an area that is several times larger than that of Falls. In short, the strike zone for rain to fall in for Jordan is much larger.

[Gard]

That's true...Jordan gets water from, I think, 4 sub-basins. Falls gets it from barely two. Big difference there.

Also, Jordan was built originally as more for flood control than for drinking water. Drinking water is "officially" only its secondary reason. The only municpalities that use it for drinking water year-round is Cary/Apex/Morrisville and Chatham County. (Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Durham may during drought circumstances.) Contrast that to Falls which supplies Raleigh, Wake Forest/Rolesville, Garner, Zebulon, Wendell and Knightdale. Alot more users.

Now a fair question to ask, is perhaps could Raleigh and Durham tap into it more?

[Jones_]

Obviously this a combonation of all these things...simply coining the situation as "mismangement" and saying that someone must be to blame and take a fall for this sounds like a WRAL comment. These lakes were sited generally in areas where there was a fall line.....for a given basin, this maximizes storage volume comapred to surface area required. The Neuse River happens to be mostly a sand hills river basin. Bad luck for Raleigh. The Cape Fear (and Yadkin-Pee Dee and Catawba etc) simply has better opportunity to store water without flooding an entire county. And its not just us. Lake Mead (Hoover Dam) is now being pegged to be gone by 2021. Like I said earlier...right now water and sewer bills combined tend to be around 1% of median household income in citie in NC. The real cost of water will go up and up either by scarcity or by the tremendous cost of pumping desalination plant water inland until you are seeing something like 5% or more of MHI being a typical bill. Thats like being single, making 50,000. and paying 250/month for your water/sewer bill.

[swimmer8866]

Obviously this a combonation of all these things...simply coining the situation as "mismangement" and saying that someone must be to blame and take a fall for this sounds like a WRAL comment. These lakes were sited generally in areas where there was a fall line.....for a given basin, this maximizes storage volume comapred to surface area required. The Neuse River happens to be mostly a sand hills river basin. Bad luck for Raleigh. The Cape Fear (and Yadkin-Pee Dee and Catawba etc) simply has better opportunity to store water without flooding an entire county. And its not just us. Lake Mead (Hoover Dam) is now being pegged to be gone by 2021. Like I said earlier...right now water and sewer bills combined tend to be around 1% of median household income in citie in NC. The real cost of water will go up and up either by scarcity or by the tremendous cost of pumping desalination plant water inland until you are seeing something like 5% or more of MHI being a typical bill. Thats like being single, making 50,000. and paying 250/month for your water/sewer bill.

[dmccall]

According to the Mayor shutting off new connections will only save about 1-2% of the water used while potentially throwing the area in to an economic recession. (see WRAL's Headline Saturday 2/16/08)

[Spatula]

Look it's simple: in the short term start buying water from Cary. They have at least a year left in Jordan Lake. In the long term look at plans to build another reservoir, and work on recycling sewage water back into the system to increase its efficiency.

There's no reason to have a moratorium on development. If we plan ahead now we'll be fine even if it never rains again this year.

[citiboi27610]

Obviously this a combonation of all these things...simply coining the situation as "mismangement" and saying that someone must be to blame and take a fall for this sounds like a WRAL comment....