City's water squeeze tightens

Conservation goal higher in Durham

DURHAM -- "Severe mandatory" water restrictions will go into effect Monday as the city continues to grapple with the drought.

But City Council member Eugene Brown wonders whether the terms severe or mandatory can apply to a policy that sets 50 percent water-use reduction as a goal, not a requirement.

The banning of nearly all outdoor watering -- the provision of the Stage IV water conservation measures most likely to affect Durham residents -- has been in place for more than a month.

The main difference in Stage IV is calling on all users, including commercial and industrial entities, to reduce consumption by half.

Under the current "moderate mandatory" restrictions in place since September, Durham water consumption has gone down 31 percent, to 24.5 million gallons per day.

But with little rain in that period, there are only 59 days left in Durham's main water supply.

That has compelled the city to seek alternative sources, including 4 million gallons per day from Jordan Lake.

The dwindling supply also prompted the call for Stage IV, under which the city hopes use goes down an additional 20 percent, to about 17 million gallons per day.

But some large users such as Duke University say they might have hit the conservation wall, calling into question whether the new restrictions will have much impact.

"Without mandatory penalties, this may end up becoming just a gesture," Brown said.

Under Stage IV, commercial and industrial users are required to submit a report to the city outlining all the ways they are conserving water.

Duke, the campus and medical center, is by far the city's largest water consumer, accounting for more than 7 percent of water sold.

That is despite a host of conservation measures the school has taken since the drought of 2002, from the installation of waterless urinals to using disposable plates in dining halls.

"My sense is the city appreciates all that we've been doing over a number of years, and we are looking to do more in terms of curtailing Duke's use of water," said Kemel Dawkins, Duke's vice president for campus services. "Ultimately there's significant issues in terms of achieving higher and higher reduction levels."

Vicki Westbrook, deputy director of the city's water management department, said commercial and industrial users need to get creative and do all they can to get their employees and customers to conserve.

That can include anything from checking for leaks in toilets to cutting back on mopping and other water-based cleaning.

"There may be some steps the operators can take to achieve water reductions that they may not have previously considered," Westbrook said.

But Brown said the city policy needs more teeth. He suggested imposing a higher rate on companies that failed to decrease their water use by 50 percent.

Ted Conner, vice president for economic development at the Durham Chamber of Commerce, said many businesses "have been very aggressive about attacking the use of water." Several companies already have reduced consumption by 50 percent, though Conner declined to say which ones.

"They understand if we run out of water, they're going to get shut down, and that's a big problem," Conner said.