Drought's grip spreads

Easley urges conservation as Creedmoor, its taps spitting out sludge, turns to neighbor for help

With three-quarters of North Carolina now suffering from severe or extreme drought, Gov. Mike Easley urged residents to cut their water use by 10 percent.

The latest drought map shows the state glowing orange and red -- the colors for two of the worst stages -- from Interstate 95 west to Tennessee.

Mountain counties are hurting the most, and in this region, one small town has already had to turn to a neighbor for help.

In Creedmoor, 20 miles northeast of Durham, the water supply dipped so much that taps spit sludge into bathtubs and sinks. Butner is piping about 200,000 gallons a day to Creedmoor.

"I'm extremely worried for the primary reason that no one I know can make it rain," Creedmoor Mayor Darryl Moss said.

Conditions in 74 of the state's 100 counties have reached the severe or extreme stage, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor of North Carolina, released Thursday. Of the state's 6 million residents relying on public water systems, nearly half are living under voluntary or mandatory cutbacks.

"With no significant rainfall in the past few months, and none expected soon, the drought is likely to continue having a drastic impact," the governor said Thursday in a news release.

Easley said he would ask state agencies to use less, too.

Raleigh-Durham has gotten 4.5 fewer inches of rain than normal, and catching up would take the equivalent of a hurricane.

Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen has the authority to restrict water use more than he already has -- residents are allowed to water their lawns only three days a week. But with hurricane season looming, he'll wait and see. "I'm not ready to pull that trigger yet," he said.

Nearby Apex has adopted similar restrictions starting in October. Clayton, which has seen usage nearly double to four million gallons a day, last week limited the watering of lawns to three days a week.

"The vast majority of that water was going straight to irrigation," Town Manager Steve Biggs said.

It's so dry in Rocky Mount that the reservoir's depth has fallen to eight feet and the city has limited watering to twice a week between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

"It's grim," City Manager Steve Raper said.

Creedmoor ran low because it has continued to rely on its own reservoir, which hasn't proven deep enough.

Joining larger systems

Small towns have increasingly joined larger, regional water systems for more reliable service, said Sid Harrell, an environmental engineer with the N.C. Division of Environmental Health.

Lake Rogers, which was built nearly six decades ago and serves Creedmoor, is only 4 to 6 feet deep even when there is no drought. Around 1990, the town got a $285,000 state loan to build an emergency line to Butner, which is now being served by the South Granville Water and Sewer Authority.

Not only did Creedmoor need help to supply the 300,000 gallons of water its 900-plus households use each day, it also needs to dredge the reservoir and rebuild its water treatment plant. That has the townspeople overheated.

"I'm upset with the city and county that it's gotten to this point," said Bobby Wheeler, owner of Creedmoor Drug Co., a Main Street store that has been in his family since 1962. "We've been supplementing water bills for a couple of years now so we can have the lake dredged."

Creedmoor City Manager Bob Schaumleffel and Mayor Moss said the dredging should begin this fall. But both men, who have heard the grumbling, said things might get worse before they get better.

"This is the plight of small towns like this with smaller lakes," Moss said. "The state's been pushing to go to regional water systems."

Creedmoor restaurants were not offering glasses of water unless customers asked for them.

Meredith Gilmore, owner of the Beehive Salon on Main Street, was careful not to leave the water running as she washed a customer's hair Thursday.

"The restrictions haven't affected me at all except for not being able to water my garden," Gilmore said. "What's unfortunate is the residents in the city of Creedmoor pay a lot for water. The water is very expensive, and you can't drink it. Not only do I give bottled water to the humans in my house, I give it to the dogs and birds."