RALEIGH - As water managers met last week, Terry Brown calmly refereed as Raleigh's utilities director and a federal wildlife officer sparred over their responses to the region's withering drought.

Raleigh wanted to divert water from two of its Swift Creek lakes to the Neuse River, so more water could be held back upstream at Falls Lake, the city's water source.

Wildlife officials were taking their time reviewing the proposal, even as Falls Lake hit an all-time low with little rain in sight.

The bickering lasted several minutes before the exasperated utilities chief left for another meeting.

Brown's immediate summation of the heated confrontation: "A good, healthy discussion."

Faced with a crisis, many managers would hole up, close ranks and issue unilateral orders.

Not Terry Brown, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' water control manager for much of the state, including depleted Falls Lake north of Raleigh.

Even during what's shaping up to be the region's worst recorded drought, Brown, 54, of Wilmington prefers an open discussion among the dozens of stakeholders with an interest in the five lakes, six rivers and 1,500 miles of navigable water he manages in North Carolina and Virginia.

Brown listens to their concerns, entertains their ideas, gets them to acknowledge one another's needs and goads them into compromises when necessary. His twin focuses: truth and trust.

"I've learned over the years that to have a good level of trust, you have to have an open process where ideas are valued and openly discussed," he says. "Many times, we come up with a common-sense course of action. And everybody understands how we got there.

"It's a good sanity check. It's more fun, too."

If fun can be had during a persistent drought, Brown is having it. The North Carolina native and N.C. State University-trained engineer seems at his best combining his technical skill with understated diplomatic savvy.

During the meeting Tuesday, he praised Raleigh's diversion project, quizzed water managers on their conservation measures, warned that winter will be dry and increased the discharge from Falls Lake to boost the Neuse River's flow downstream at Clayton -- all without losing his sense of humor.

The Neuse had begun dropping just over a week ago, when Brown was off.

"I just can't leave the office without something happening," he says with a smile and his mountain drawl to the 30 or so representatives of cities, counties, power companies, industries, environmental regulators, wildlife protectors, water-management consultants, and park managers.

Brown's approach wins plaudits from members of the disparate group he coordinates.

"I'm very impressed with him," says Karen Brashear, Goldsboro's public utilities director. Her city pulls drinking water from the Neuse downstream of Raleigh.

This year, Brown helped Brashear navigate the Corps' bureaucracy to get permission to repair a federal flood-control dam that was impeding Goldsboro's water intake during the drought.

"He likes to get issues out on the table and discuss what-if scenarios," Brashear says. "He's skilled at getting different opinions and then working through the issues. I learn from him all the time."

Too accommodating?

Brown's easygoing style, however, isn't for everyone.

Gene Addesso, a Raleigh resident and former IBM executive, is vice president of the Roanoke River Basin Association and a member of the Corps' stakeholder group. He credits Brown with unifying a wide array of personalities and interests.

"Terry's the guy people call when they've got a complaint, whether it's a farmer or a fisherman or a municipality," he says. "He's good at understanding how far he can go, and then he gets the stakeholders to share the pain."

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