Extreme Drought remains along the Virginia border and parts of the Coastal Plain;affectedresidents are encouraged to take measures to conserve water
Heavy rainfall from Hurricane Isaias offered drought relief to some Western North Carolina mountain counties earlier this month, although nearly half of the state’s counties remain in some stage of a drought that began last year. Additionally, drought conditions have worsened in the Coastal Plain and northern Piedmont.
The tropical storm dropped nearly 10 inches in southern Mitchell County on Oct. 10-11 and added close to half a foot of rain elsewhere in the region. According to the US Drought Monitor map released today, drought conditions eased in the region in response to the rain, as year-to-date precipitation deficits are now near normal and streamflow and soil moisture across the area have rebounded.
Central and eastern North Carolina also picked up beneficial rain from the storm. The Charlotte area improved to an abnormally dry designation, with streamflows at near normal more than a week after the passage of Isaias.
The most severe drought conditions continue to linger along the Virginia border and across portions of the Coastal Plain. This week’s map shows expansion of moderate and severe drought in northeastern North Carolina, with streamflows on the Tar River falling below the 10th percentile this week.
Half of North Carolina remained classified in some stage of drought, according to the latest drought map, which reflects data through 8 a.m. on Oct. 20. Parts of Rockingham, Caswell, Person and Granville counties in the northern Piedmont continued to experience extreme drought, as did portions of Warren, Halifax and Northampton counties on the Coastal Plain. The remaining areas of those three counties expanded into severe drought. Gates, Hertford, Bertie, Martin, Edgecombe, Camden and Currituck counties also saw deteriorating conditions. Last week’s US Drought Monitor map did not accurately reflect drought conditions following Hurricane Isaias, so this week’s map release is based off of two weeks of suggestions from North Carolina’s Drought Management Advisory Council.
“October is usually one of the driest months in North Carolina, but it wasn’t the case this year. Much of the state received beneficial rain this month,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council and Water Resources Engineer with the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources. “Though some reservoirs only saw a modest increase in their water levels, every little bit of precipitation counts as we climb out of this year-long drought.”
W. Kerr Scott Reservoir in Wilkes County released excess water after the storm, benefiting downstream reservoirs. John H. Kerr Reservoir, along the Virginia border, is expected to see only slight improvement, with runoff from the heaviest headwater rainfall still several days away from becoming evident. Projections show an increase of a foot or less, and power generation remains reduced.
In the Piedmont, Jordan Lake sits about 2.5 feet below normal with its water quality pool at 65%, while Falls Lake is 5.5 feet below at 246.04 feet, with the water quality pool at 23% and the water supply pool at 69%. Water quality pool is a dedicated segment of storage space inside a US Army Corps of Engineers-maintained reservoir set aside to maintain downstream water quality and supply standards. A water supply pool is the amount set aside for municipal and other in-lake uses.
For counties in extreme drought, water systems are advised to follow their Water Shortage Response Plans and adhere to water use reduction measures. Systems in these areas must report weekly water use and conservation status online at the Water Use Reporting website. More information on what the classifications mean for water systems and the public is available at ncdrought.org.
Residents can check with their local water supply system for information on water use restrictions such as limits on lawn watering, car washing or other measures. Systems may also have tips for conserving water, such as washing only full loads of laundry. Visit DEQ’s Water Conservation page for more tips on how to conserve water. DEQ's Drought Indicator Wells can provide insights into local groundwater conditions.
About the Drought Management Advisory Council
North Carolina maintains one of the most comprehensive state level drought monitoring efforts in the United States. Each week, the DMAC, a multiagency group of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, evaluates a wide range of environmental, hydrological and agricultural indicators to produce the state’s official drought assessment and recommendations to the U.S. Drought Monitor. DMAC is chaired by DEQ’s Division of Water Resources.
DMAC members meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a map of the nation’s drought conditions. The U.S. Drought Monitor map is updated weekly on Thursdays, based on conditions through the previous Tuesday. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit www.ncdrought.org.
To learn more, visit DEQ’s drought education page.