Water Efficiency Project News

DURHAM - With central North Carolina suffering through the worst drought on record and a projected dry winter ahead, the Triangle is as close as it has ever been to severe restrictions limiting water use to hygiene and extinguishing fires.

Durham, with just 59 days left in its main water supply, could be on the front lines of this worst-case scenario.

Up to now, the prospect has been too far-fetched to entertain in detail, which is why there are few specifics in Durham ordinances about what would happen if the drought doesn't let up. Raleigh also lacks a set plan for an end-times-type drought.

Durham would ban industrial water use -- a potentially devastating economic blow. It would hit water-driven businesses such as car washes and laundries directly but also could force businesses to cut shifts or even lay off workers.

Residential water would be rationed, but it's unknown how that would be implemented. Limiting water service to certain hours a day or dropping water pressure are possibilities.

Vicki Westbrook, deputy director of Durham's water management department, said the city is doing all it can to stave off doomsday.

That includes spending more than $1 million -- exact figures haven't been tabulated -- to connect to alternative water sources, including Jordan Lake and a nearby quarry. Then there are the ever-tightening water restrictions; Durham residents and businesses are being asked to cut water use by 50 percent.

Some say that won't be enough in the long term.

Durham resident Christopher Sanford has been begging city leaders for months to think about more than just getting past this drought. Sanford, 71, notes that Durham has seen reservoir levels drop sharply in four of the past eight years. He thinks the city should set quotas for water use and charge heavily when they're exceeded.

"We've always squeezed by -- 'If we just hold our breath, it'll rain,' " Sanford said. "They are playing Russian roulette. Every time we get a drought, we pull the trigger one more time. One of these days we're going to pull the trigger and it's going to fire, and that means the reservoirs go dry."

Uncharted territory

The question becomes, what then? For the first time, Durham officials find themselves having to think seriously about the answer.

On Monday, the city moves to Stage IV "severe mandatory" restrictions. Most outdoor irrigation is banned; hand-watering is allowed a few hours a week. Fines of $400 or more can be imposed on violators. Businesses must submit reports to the city that show all they're doing to cut their water consumption in half.

Stage VI water restrictions lie down the road if things get desperate. The few specifics in the ordinance include using untreated water to put out fires when possible and banning any industrial water uses. All residents will be told to use disposable plates and utensils. Duke University, Durham County's largest water user, already has taken this step in its dining halls, trading china for throwaway plates.

The Stage VI ordinance ends on a vague note. "All other uses of water will be limited to those necessary to meet minimum health and safety needs of the customers as determined by the city manager," it says.

Stage VI could mean the water gets turned on only three hours a day, as happened last month in the parched town of Orme, Tenn. Or water pressure could drop to a relative trickle.

"We'll be initiating discussions as to what that means," Westbrook said this week.

GlaxoSmithKline and other large Durham businesses have been working hard in the past months to cut water use. The drug maker's facility in Research Triangle Park has reduced consumption by 45 percent since August, said spokesman Robert Sutton.

He said the company wants to set an example as a good corporate citizen. It also doesn't want to have to start cutting back shifts or telling hundreds of employees to work from home.

"First and foremost, we want to do our part," Sutton said. "It's a scarce resource, and we don't want it to run out."

GlaxoSmithKline for now doesn't envision having to lay anyone off if Durham goes to Stage VI.

Winter rains? Maybe not

Winter is usually a time for area reservoirs to replenish after the dry summer and fall. Typically, central North Carolina receives about 3 or 4 inches of rain a month from November to February. But forecasts call for a drier-than-normal winter because of La Nina, a cooling of ocean temperatures in the Pacific that affects global weather patterns.

Rainfall this November has been less than a half-inch.

The region's driest winter on record was 1985, when about 4.3 inches of precipitation fell from December through February.

If something like that happens this winter, the region would enter the warm months of 2008 with reservoirs badly depleted. Then it would take a tropical storm or two to get the water supply back up, said Ryan Boyles, director of the State Climate Office.