Drought watch?
Not yet. But, it's worth noting that for the first time in over two months, the levels at Lake Michie have dropped. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. That's why you have a reservoir.
The good news is that stream flows, although still below historic medians, have been above 20 cfs at Lake Michie for the past month or more, and have only dropped below 10 cfs once at Little River. Last year at this time, inflows at Lake Michie were the lowest recorded for spring (tied with 2002, another drought year), at about 5 cfs. 30 cfs yields about 20 million gallons a day. Better news is that demand has remained about 20-25% below last year's early summer levels, at around 22 - 25 mgd.
I think this helps to reinforce my contention that we need to stop thinking about "droughts," and start thinking about long-term imbalances between our demand for water and our supply. We've seen our reservoirs get seriously low 3 times in the past 8 years. Nothing suggests that it won't happen in the future at least as frequently.
The good news is that stream flows, although still below historic medians, have been above 20 cfs at Lake Michie for the past month or more, and have only dropped below 10 cfs once at Little River. Last year at this time, inflows at Lake Michie were the lowest recorded for spring (tied with 2002, another drought year), at about 5 cfs. 30 cfs yields about 20 million gallons a day. Better news is that demand has remained about 20-25% below last year's early summer levels, at around 22 - 25 mgd.
I think this helps to reinforce my contention that we need to stop thinking about "droughts," and start thinking about long-term imbalances between our demand for water and our supply. We've seen our reservoirs get seriously low 3 times in the past 8 years. Nothing suggests that it won't happen in the future at least as frequently.
Labels: drought
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6 Comments:
It is long past time to ease up on the stage 3 restrictions since there is no short-term water supply crisis. Especially since we are about to sign an agreement to sell water to Chatham County at the lowest rate and with apparently no usage restrictions.
The restriction on using automated sprinklers twice a week should stay in place, probably permanently. Most of the other limits should be reduced or lifted entirely as long as the reserviors are full or very close to it.
By
Todd, at 3:19 PM
I think the major stage 3 restriction is is the 2x/week lawn/garden watering, as far as most users are concerned.
and i think one of the reasons the reservoirs have remained full, despite rainfall totals at RDU being 1.23" below normal since the 1st of the year, is that we've kept demand down. If we were using the 30+ mgd that we were using this time last year, we'd already be talking about the water supply status.
By
Barry, at 3:33 PM
I have no interest in watering my grass. If it rains, its green.
However, unless I am misreading the Stage 3 restrictions:
-I can't fill up a kiddie pool for the little ones to play in.
-I can't wash my car at home, but I can go asomewhere and pay someone to do so.
-I can't powerwash the deck to remove a year's worth of grime, but I can pay someone else to.
-I can only water flowers & veggies by hand at certain times on Wed & Sat, regardless of whether that is convenient for me.
These are unnecessary inconveniences caused by maintaining Stage 3 restrictions right now. They are examples of occasional usage that consume far less water than auto sprinklers on the grass multiple times a week.
By
Todd, at 4:54 PM
I believe that you can water flowers and veggies by hand at any time. The wednesday and saturday restrictions refer to water from a hose, sprinkler, or drip irrigation system. at least, that's what i've been told by people on city staff.
you can also wash your car with recycled water or if you use less than 30 gallons.
power washing the deck may have to wait a bit.
By
Barry, at 5:02 PM
If you are using a garden hose, how are you supposed to measure 30 gallons of usage?
This made sense when we only had a 100 day supply of water left. But at 341 days and max storage capacity, it is just a pointless pain in the butt.
By
Todd, at 8:39 PM
Well, i haven't washed my car in the driveway in well over a year, but what i'd do if i were to give it a go would be to fill up a five gallon bucket with soapy water, and sponge it down with that. Then, after disposing of the water properly (ie, not dumping it down the storm drain) i'd refill the bucket with clean water, and rinse the car down with the clean water and a couple of towels. Repeat if necessary.
15 gallons, max.
btw - to get back to your earlier point about Chatham County, from what i can tell, that's politics. Durham may need Chatham's support for increasing the tap into Jordan Lake at some point. Is it good politics? I can't say. But that's what it is.
By
Barry, at 8:57 PM
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