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It takes years to build up levels at a lake. Get used to the water restrictions as once you are in drought it takes years of over average rainfall to build it up to pre-drought water levels in the lake. Conservation is the only solution.
Conservstion is a partial solution. Right now it's all we can do. I don't think though, that we will get by for the next decade on conservation alone. We need more water storage.
What would the worse case scenario be if the area ran out of drinking water?
FEMA would jump in and deliver water as they do during Hurricane's and Floods. However the magnitude is the alarming factor and it keeps growing even though people are trying to conserve. The average daily Raleigh consumption of water is a little over 40 million gallons. Try to bring that in via truck tankers or rail cars. They can tap Jordan Lake but that too would quickly run out. We can all buy bottled water, imagine what a case of bottled water would cost in that case. Supply and Demand factors or better yet the greed factor would come into play. Save that Governments Economic Stimulus check to pay for high gas and food prices and oh yea WATER prices.
There goes my flat screen HD TV, my iPhone, my iPOD, my TIVO, my 8 megapixel digital camera, my almost new slightly older BMW, etc., etc., etc.
Industries that use water in their process which have been identified recently via the media would have to stop and lay off its staff. Summer air conditioning season would end as most large buildings use air conditioning systems that use fresh water to stay cool. So we can all play in our heads the song, 'when its HOT HOT HOT!'
They would have to severely limit or stop new home and business construction that would connect to the Raleigh water system. I have read in 2006 that the building industry in the triangle is a $4 Billion dollar industry. Take that out of the local economy. But where would it stop.
People moving here would get out their newspapers and magazines that showed this area as one of the top areas to move to for jobs and quality of life and ask what did I miss? That would no longer be true. I think it would certainly help Cary's property values as they do have better water storage capabilities than Raleigh does.
But we are not to worry about the end game. Our local and state officials have it under control. If they can only create water as they do deficits we would all be bathing in the sea of opportunity! Let's hope we never get to the next stages of water restrictions or maybe better stated drinking water elimination!
It takes years to build up levels at a lake. Get used to the water restrictions as once you are in drought it takes years of over average rainfall to build it up to pre-drought water levels in the lake. Conservation is the only solution.
newsobserver.com | Aquifer could quench Triangle's thirst (http://www.newsobserver.com/weather/drought/story/756482.html - broken link)
I think this is a solution but I am sure it will take 1-2 years for the city to decide if we should pipeline the water here and it will take forever to build it.
Noticed that article was published in November.
Saw this newstory on Monday - NBC17 Special Report: Wasted Water - Special Reports - NBC 17 (http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news/Special_Reports/Education___School_News.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-02-11-0030.html - broken link) - so why isn't Raleigh saying YES, bring us the water, we will pay for it - 160Million doesn't seem that bad for us to have a valuable thing we need daily - WATER!
Also why aren't people drilling their own wells and that way not depend on the city of Raleigh for water?? If I was on city water I would, we are on a well and don't depend on the city for water.
newsobserver.com | Aquifer could quench Triangle's thirst (http://www.newsobserver.com/weather/drought/story/756482.html - broken link)
I think this is a solution but I am sure it will take 1-2 years for the city to decide if we should pipeline the water here and it will take forever to build it.
Noticed that article was published in November.
Saw this newstory on Monday - NBC17 Special Report: Wasted Water - Special Reports - NBC 17 (http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news/Special_Reports/Education___School_News.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-02-11-0030.html - broken link) - so why isn't Raleigh saying YES, bring us the water, we will pay for it - 160Million doesn't seem that bad for us to have a valuable thing we need daily - WATER!
Also why aren't people drilling their own wells and that way not depend on the city of Raleigh for water?? If I was on city water I would, we are on a well and don't depend on the city for water.
Cindy
One of my neighbors (in Cary) put a well in for irrigation. My understanding is he had to jump through hoops to get the county to okay it (I'm pretty sure for some reason it was the county and not the city). It seems like they aren't terribly excited about people with access to city water putting in a well--and this was before the drought started.
Well the house we are moving into is on a well, so I'm kind of happy about that. But, my understanding is that a lot of the water sources underground are connected, so if water is running out, it may effect the wells too. Not sure about how this all works in Raleigh, but in communities where the public sources are from wells, this is definitely the case.
I am actually surprised that Stage 2 hasn't been enacted sooner. It really needed to be. These types of restrictions shouldn't be a shock to anyone, not businesses or individuals. No one really has the right to complain about this. The city started its restrictions too late, and IMHO the plan was flawed from the beginning. While I can certainly sympathize with businesses that rely on water, it is just a matter of time. If there is no water available for them to use to begin with, they'd be in a much worse situation. I'm sure there are ways for businesses to come up with creative ways of using less water, and the city should allow them to continue to operate using responsible water use practices.
I grew up in FL where it seemed like we had droughts every year (surrounded by water and not a drop to drink). At the early signs of a period of drought, everyone knew to expect watering to be limited to certain days of the week and certain hours of the day. The hours of the day part was critical, because many people do not know when the most efficient time of the day is to water. It is common to see sprinklers running for hours at the hottest part of the afternoon. The restrictions forced people to water efficiently, and thus the restrictions were easier to swallow because there was not a knee-jerk fried-grass factor as soon as restrictions began. This resulted in more people being willing to adhere to the restrictions. Not to mention, fines were serious, and people were serious about reporting those who didn't follow the rules.
Here, the city started with an odd/even restriction with no time limits. WTF? Of course, people were tempted to water for longer periods on the days they were allowed to water. Did that really save anything? If people water for twice their normal length of time each day, but only half the number of days, that = 0 savings. This is something the city didn't seem to realize until at least a month after implementing this restriction!
Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet solution to this problem. We can't just shut down gowth and think that it is going to solve all our problems, because the people that aren't here yet aren't the ones that have used up all our water - we have. Building new reservoirs takes so much time that it is not a viable solution to the immediate problem.
I think that the best solution is to start planning for expanded infrastructure in the future, but consider lifestyle changes in the meantime until that structure is completed, even if that means restrictions for several years to come (hopefully we would have enough rain to not be in the Stage 2 category during this time!). That means cooperation and sacrifice by the general population, businesses and local officials alike. For example, don't shut growth off completely, but require new construction to feature water-saving devices, and most importantly, drought-tolerant landscaping. Having acres and acres of fescue lawns that require tons of water being added to the city's water supply is certainly not helping on the growth side of things.
Right now, all that we can do is conserve and pray for rain. I have gone beyond the city's restrictions before they ever started asking us to do so. I know it's a lot to ask, but it would be nice if everyone were conscientious about their water usage.
I'm already using my gray water to remove the yellow water. I refuse to brush my teeth with rain water unless I'm camping of coarse. I agree that stage 2 restrictions should have come long ago but I don't pay my bills and mortgage based on my need for water. How can we put car wash employees and owners and power washers out of work when the top 10 water uerers can do more and cut back 10%, 20% or 30% and save the jobs of the small business owner and worker?
There is no easy solution or a wave of the magic water wand to get out of this one. Conserve, conserve, and conserve some more and after we all do that than take less showers per week.
We have cut back so much on our homes water usage the fish in our fish tank are peering out at us like somethings up. I'm certainly not telling them we are going to stage 2...........gulp.....gulp...gulp.....
As the drought come-ith it shall go-ith! All we really need to know is when-ith!
One simpler solution to this whole thing that the local town I formerly lived in put into action a few years ago... tiered water pricing. They came up with a scheme to "punish" those that overused water. They billed for water on a quarterly tiered pricing plan. If you used under 15K gallons in the quarter, it was $4/thousand gallons. If you used between 15K and 30K, it was $8/thousand gallons. If you used over 30K gallons, it was $16/thousand gallons. And if that weren't bad enough, they changed the fiscal year for the water department so June, July, and August were in the same quarter. In contrast, the town we moved to, which is less than 10 miles away, charges $1/thousand gallons with no limit or tiers. After a few big water bills, most people slowed their water consumption quite a bit to make sure they didn't go over the limits. And there were some that didn't care, but if they paid for it, then it helped fund solutions to the problem of water availability. It would seem that something like this would be a good way to deal with the problem in Raleigh.
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