Q: Since returning to Stage 1, what is Raleigh's usage?

-- Gertrude Kappel, Raleigh

A: Raleigh went to Stage 1 water restrictions April 7. Water use has remained fairly constant since then. The city's average daily consumption over the past 30 days is 41.6 million gallons a day, or about 20 percent less than normal. Ed Buchan, Raleigh's water conservation specialist, notes that Raleigh has yet to enter the prime irrigation season. Already, demand is rising by about 10 million gallons on irrigation days.

Q: What I keep looking for is the sum total of water that has been spilled from the lake so far in 2008 and the total for the spring periods in 2007, 2006, etc. The spill of 555 million gallons a day could theoretically supply over 800 free gallons of water per day to each recipient. That's way too large to be ignored.

-- William T. Lynch, Apex

A: This commonly held view presupposes that Falls Lake's sole or primary purpose is to supply Raleigh's drinking water. It's not. Under federal law, the lake must also provide a healthy flow for the Neuse River downstream, which requires steady releases. It must provide recreation, which, when the lake is high, requires releases.

Most importantly, the lake must provide flood control to protect downstream communities. That requires leaving tremendous storage space in the lake to absorb storm runoff from its 770-square-mile drainage area. That, in turn, requires extra releases when the lake rises above its normal elevation of 251.5 feet.

After heavy rains several weeks ago, the Army Corps of Engineers was releasing from gates in Falls Lake's dam about 14 times as much water each day as Raleigh was drawing from the lake. Last week, the releases were down to about four times Raleigh's usage.

"Drought today may be flood a month or two or three from tomorrow," said Col. John Pulliam Jr., commander of the Corps' office in Wilmington, which operates Falls Lake. "And we must be ready for both."

Q: We learned that Raleigh and other local communities petitioned a study with the Corps of Engineers on the possibility of drawing water via pipeline from Kerr Lake. Is the city, or our local congressional delegation, doing anything to try to expedite this process, or the approval process for the new reservoir on the Little River?

-- Greg Brown, Wendell

A: Dale Crisp, Raleigh's public utilities director, said the city has an ongoing dialogue with state and federal regulatory agencies about both Kerr Lake and the Little River Reservoir. "We are moving these projects along through the existing regulatory processes as fast as we can," he said.

Crisp said Gov. Mike Easley's proposed legislative initiative is silent on the need for changes to the permitting process for new water supplies, despite many appeals from Raleigh and other water system operators that it be addressed.

The planned Little River project is more of a certainty but would be much smaller -- and, like Falls Lake, more drought-sensitive.

Q: There has been no recent information concerning the order issued by the N.C. Utilities Commission. That order effectively prohibited any nonessential use of water by the many communities served by community wells. In light of the fact that the most severely affected city, Raleigh, has eased restrictions, why has there not been a lifting of the N.C. Utilities Commission order?

-- Jack Anastasi, Wake Forest

A: The state Utilities Commission is expected to ease the ban, but it's proceeding cautiously and warns the drought isn't over. It proposes to relax restrictions as drought conditions improve.

After an area's drought classification has improved to "abnormally dry" for at least four weeks, it would allow landscape irrigation once a week and weekend car washing, home powerwashing, and topping off swimming pools. Areas in moderate to severe drought could wash their cars and homes on weekends but could not irrigate. And the ban would remain entirely in areas in extreme to exceptional drought.

The commission has not set a date for final action on its proposal, but it's expected soon.