Easley's battle cry: Turn down the taps

With 78 of 100 counties in 'exceptional' drought, governor says it's patriotic to save water. He urges tiered billing and calls a summit of hardest-hit systems

RALEIGH -- Gov. Mike Easley, who has little power to control water consumption, again used the prominence of his job Thursday to broadcast a message he has repeated for months now: We are using too much water.

Easley told a special meeting of experts, officials and water managers that residents are slipping in their efforts to conserve in the face of the worst drought in state history and that everyone has to do more. Seventy-eight of the state's 100 counties are experiencing "exceptional" drought, the most intensive category as defined by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The governor tried to appeal to consumers' wallets and their sense of duty.

Easley urged water systems to make it expensive to waste water, and he cast the need to cut back in patriotic terms. He is making it easier to track how much water is being used and saved, and wants to get extra help and attention to the water systems most in danger of running dry.

Here are the highlights of Easley's program.

Tiered billing

Easley called on water systems to start using a tiered or structured billing system. Simply put, those who use more water would see a sharp spike in water rates. Some Triangle water systems, such as Cary and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, already use these billing arrangements.

"They have to conserve and the water bill will certainly be one more reminder that it has to be done," Easley said.

Raleigh and Durham aren't yet close to switching to such a billing scheme.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker has called for a tiered rate, but the City Council hasn't discussed it. City Utilities Director Dale Crisp said that even if the council decided to adopt tiered rates, it probably would take another two months or more to implement them. And adopting a complex rate structure could require replacing the city's computerized water billing system first, which would take longer still, Crisp said.

In Durham, the water system's aging computer system won't allow a tiered system, said Reginald Hicks, the regulatory compliance superintendent for the city's Water Management Department. A new system is scheduled to go online in July. Until then, the City Council has asked water officials to look into surcharges as a possible way to curb water use, Hicks said.

Who's cutting back

Easley announced changes to the state's drought information Web site, www.ncdrought.org. Since October, the site has listed how much water each public utility uses, creating a dense collection of numbers.

Easley ordered the site changed so that it's easier to track consumption. The idea, Easley said, was to highlight which systems were having success. But it would also show which systems weren't.

Easley calls a summit

On Jan. 14, Easley will hold a meeting in Greensboro for the 30 systems which are closest to running out of water. That list now includes Raleigh, Durham, Johnston County, Smithfield, High Point, Goldsboro and Rocky Mount.

Easley wants to hear their plans for backup water sources, such as quarries or connections to other reservoirs, and ensure they have an adequate emergency plan if they run out of water.

Conserve. A lot.

Easley renewed his call for residents to cut back on their water use. Places that are most in danger of running out of water, including Raleigh and Durham, should cut even more, the governor said. Cutting water use is a duty, he said.

"Keep in mind that a lot of generations in this state and this country have sacrificed an awful lot over the years. There are some generations that haven't had to sacrifice before," Easley said. "Parents, talk to your children. Make them understand that they have a patriotic duty to make sure that they keep their state healthy and safe and you can't do that without a good water supply."

Getting people to realize that water is a resource and not a right takes time, said Hicks, the Durham water official. Even at Hicks' own home, he's had to urge his wife to run the washing machine with one rinse cycle instead of two. He set up a timer to limit his son's showers to five minutes.

"People don't change their habits overnight," Hicks said.

Some of this effort feels a little too late, said Gary Larson, a retired IBM test manager who lives north of Raleigh.

"I think we're sitting on the edge of a disaster," Larson said Thursday. "I think steps should have been taken sooner, and it seems to me that more needs to be done. What's the long-range plan?"

Larson said local governments should consider requiring low-flow toilets and shower heads in all homes. When his beach townhome community made the switch this year, its summer water use dropped by a third, he said.

"With the growth in this area, steps have to be taken," he said. "It won't be the last time. This is a long-term problem that needs to be fixed."

(News researcher Denise Jones contributed to this report.)