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"Our town managers and councils have been supportive," Mike Bajorek, Cary's interim director of public works and utilities, said recently. "Water is the lifeblood of a community, and it is finite."

With the luxury of a fairly large lake to draw water from, Raleigh leaders for decades have emphasized keeping prices low.

But Falls Lake, which is near the upper end of the Neuse River's watershed, has turned out to be more drought-sensitive than some other Triangle lakes -- including nearby Jordan Lake, which serves Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and other Triangle towns.

During the scorching summer, Raleigh's water demand reached an all-time high of 75 million gallons on Aug. 15, pushing the limit of the city's treatment plant off Falls of Neuse Road.

Public uncertainty

The comforting concept of an endless water supply has evaporated this year with half of Falls Lake. Even so, public opinion on tiered rates appears divided.

Raleigh resident Elliott Fisher, 62, said he's in favor of customers' paying high rates the more water they use. "Something is going to have to be done to bring it seriously to people's attention," Fisher said. "Usually that means getting them in the pocketbook."

And Cary resident Winston Hooker Sr., 73, said he's a fan of the tiered-rate structure, although he hadn't noticed it because his homeowner association pays his water bills.

"It doesn't really affect me, but it's a good idea in principle," Hooker said. "It's kind of like income tax: The more you got, the more you pay."

Others aren't so sure.

Construction contractor Chuck Clark, 40, who recently moved to Cary from Buffalo, N.Y., said the tiered rates have pushed his monthly water bills far above what they were up North.

"I can tell you, it's too much money. I'm very upset about it," he said. "I was going to call to ask about it."

Cary's Audra Cox, 30, catering manager at Cindy's House Cafe, said she didn't know her town charges tiered rates. "It makes me want to look into what everyone else is paying," she said.

In Raleigh, it seems, Mayor Meeker has much the same idea.

(Staff writer Peggy Lim contributed to this report.)

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