As Raleigh eases out of months of severe drought and toward a cooler, wetter autumn, the city is reviewing its Water Shortage Response Plan to better prepare for water supply emergencies. Consumers in Raleigh — as well as in Franklin County, Johnson County, and Fuquay-Varina — may see alternate-day irrigation rules and different criteria for what triggers water restrictions.
Raleigh Water’s Environmental Coordinator Ed Buchan and Director Whit Wheeler presented about Raleigh’s water outlook at the City Council’s Tuesday work session. Buchan said that in reviewing the city’s response plan, Raleigh Water is examining both the current drought’s progression and the strong La Niña signal that set it up.
“We had not seen one like that previously, so we’re going to look at that,” he said. “As I’m sure everybody here knows, the more weather data you have, the better your model can be.”
Pushing through the drought:
Wake County is currently experiencing a severe drought. It’s an improvement to the extreme and even exceptional drought classifications that plagued the region from May through July, but Raleigh residents remain among the 6 million people across North Carolina experiencing drought conditions…