Many areas in North Carolina received rain over the last week, continuing to ease widespread drought. However, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report released on Aug. 6, most of the state is still in moderate to severe drought, with Brunswick County experiencing the worst drought conditions. With many reservoir levels still below normal, the public is still encouraged to conserve water.
Streamflows in the Mountains are continuing to improve. Flows in the Tuckasegee, Catawba and Roanoke basins experienced smaller improvements this week.
The latest map, released Aug. 6, considers data from July 28 through August 4. In that time, are-as in eastern North Carolina received over two inches of rain, helping to ease the drought in the coastal plain. Parts of Rockingham, Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance and Warren counties in central North Carolina and portions of Macon, Jackson and Transylvania counties in Western North Carolina are in extreme drought, the second worst category. More information on what the classifications mean for water systems and the public is available at ncdrought.org.
For counties in exceptional or 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.