Water Conservation Gone Mainstream : While Rivers Temporarily Overflow, Groundwater Permanently Runs Dry In Charlotte (CharlotteObserver)

Jan.07, 2009 in Drought, Public Works, Water Conservation, Water Crisis, Water Industry

(Jan. 7, 2009, Charlotte Observer)

The receding drought in Charlotte and the rest of Western North Carolina appears to have left a lasting gift: water conservation that’s gone mainstream.

Dry conditions still badger 28 counties west of Charlotte, a year after severe drought gripped most of the state. Despite improving rainfall, communities across the Charlotte region are using less water now than they did then.

Communities in the Yadkin River basin, which includes Union and Cabarrus counties, used 3.1 percent less water last month than they did in December 2007, an analysis of state records shows. That saves some 2.6 million gallons a day.

In the Catawba River basin, encompassing most of Mecklenburg as well as Gaston, Lincoln and Catawba counties, water use dropped 1.4 percent.

That trend, should it hold, would be good news for a state that’s not used to water conservation. “The state uses water like a person who has no budget spends money,” said a recent report to legislators. Water policy will be among issues before the General Assembly when it convenes Jan. 28.

Local officials have also become wary of lifting water restrictions, even when no visible signs of drought remain. That’s why Charlotte-Mecklenburg and many neighboring areas still limit outdoor watering to two days a week despite near-normal rainfall for 2008.

Catawba River reservoirs are plump after steady recent rains, and stream flows are improving. But groundwater still hasn’t recovered fully from drought that settled over the region in spring 2007.

That’s key, because groundwater provides much of the day-to-day flow in streams and rivers, which in turn feed reservoirs. Tuesday, a monitoring well in the mountains of Transylvania County, for instance, set a record low for the date. Wells in Davie and Rowan counties, northeast of Charlotte, were in the lowest 25 percent of their historic levels.

“Caution at this point is really advisable. Summer could be (unusually) hot, it could be dry,” said Jerad Bales, director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s N.C. Water Science Center.

Federal forecasters expect below-normal precipitation for the Carolinas through March. The return of warm weather ratchets up the potential for water shortages.

Homeowners turn spigots to water lawns and gardens, driving up daily usage by as much as 40 percent. Budding trees and other plants suck more water from the soil. Millions of gallons a day evaporate from reservoirs.

A drought-advisory group that recommends water restrictions for the Catawba basin meets Jan. 28. Last month the group acknowledged better conditions but recommended that even in winter, outdoor watering be limited to no more than twice a week.

Some water experts say that, after two deep droughts in the past decade, conservation has become woven into daily life.

Single-family residential use in Charlotte-Mecklenburg has dropped 32 percent since 2002, the apex of a four-year drought. It dropped further in 2003, one of the rainiest years on record, and has kept steadily falling.

By 2008, the average household was using the smallest amount on record for the city, about 5,000 gallons a month.

The drop shows that indoor use, which has not been restricted, has dropped as well as outdoor uses that were curtailed by city ordinance. Consumption has also dropped in winter, when outdoor watering drops.

“We feel comfortable saying that this is a change in behavior, not just restrictions,” said Maeneen Klein, conservation manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities. “I do believe that people are just being a lot more conscious and careful about their water use.”

Both water systems and their customers are also learning to live with less, said Don Rayno, a planner with the N.C. Division of Water Resources.

“It’s a recognition I think of the value of water and making the best use of what’s available to us,” he said. “People can still do what they want to do but use less water.”