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"Severe" Drought

Jones_

By Jones_
in Triangle Coffee House

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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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My HOA is rain barrel friendly. We have several residents with rain barrels. I just installed mine last week. I got it from the City of Raleigh for $42.70. I think it is awesome that they sell them at that price! I painted it becasue it is viewable from the street. It is already full from today's rain. I plan to use it to for a small vegetable garden. I only have a .08 acre lot and don't water my grass. I plan to convert most of my lawn into mulch beds with drought tolerant plants.

DSC08771b-1.jpg

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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As of today if you look at the weather pattern we are now in I would be concerned. The last event on wednesday was supposed to give the area almost an inch of rain and it came through with .08. The storm for monday has disappeared. We are going very dry again for the next two weeks. Nope restrictions should remain.
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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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If short range projections like this are way off, then long range predictions are even more useless.

If alternate day watering was so bad, then how are Cary's well maintained lawns so well maintained? They somehow manage with an alternate day watering schedule and no "free for all" during the seeding seasons. They figured out that three weeks is enough, and they can grant exceptions as needed, as opposed to a two month water orgy. They are lucky to have to server fewer customers with a larger watershed, but that is another issue.

Why are people that vain about rain barrels -- their color, number or even mere presence. Collecting water hitting the roof and using it instead of potable drinking water for outdoor plants is a slight shifting (but having no direct affect) on the natural water cycle.

Pepsi (Aquafina) needs to pay up since they are exporting our water in 20 ounce servings. The vast majority of that water is not coming back to the Falls River watershed, umm, post-consumer.

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ChiefJoJo Town

ChiefJoJo

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^ I think what Jones is saying is that there isn't a linear relationship between rainfall in inches and the lake's capacity... it's probably closer to being exponential... the volume you have to fill is misleading becuase the increase in surface area over that last foot is pretty big... never took hydrology, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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^ I think what Jones is saying is that there isn't a linear relationship between rainfall in inches and the lake's capacity... it's probably closer to being exponential... the volume you have to fill is misleading becuase the increase in surface area over that last foot is pretty big... never took hydrology, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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dmccall Burg

dmccall

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2006

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Gard Burg

Gard

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Meanwhile...Falls Lake has risen more than 2" since yesterday. With fewer than 10" to go to a full pool, and 1" of rain expected tomorrow... are they going to still limit water use when the pool is overflowing? Once that water falls over to the Neuse river, we can't get it back. Might as well use it. The irony is that when it rains, we don't need irrigation systems. But the bird dung eating my paint...
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Jones_ City

Jones_

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I see Ed Buchan from time to time. Smart guy. We agree that really all you have to do is stop yard watering and we are pretty set no matter what happens for many years. As far as full pool etc goes, those subsurface inflows really are a big component and they increase sometimes months after the big rains come. I don't practice the science but studied hydrology and its component hydrographs and have some exposure to shallow and deep aquifers and how they relate to the water supply big picture. At the end of the day all you can do, like with most environmental issues, is hurt yourself. You want more common sense involved? Remove as much as possibile these decisions from politicos and leave it to a team of State and local supply operators.

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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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I see Ed Buchan from time to time. Smart guy. We agree that really all you have to do is stop yard watering and we are pretty set no matter what happens for many years. As far as full pool etc goes, those subsurface inflows really are a big component and they increase sometimes months after the big rains come. I don't practice the science but studied hydrology and its component hydrographs and have some exposure to shallow and deep aquifers and how they relate to the water supply big picture. At the end of the day all you can do, like with most environmental issues, is hurt yourself. You want more common sense involved? Remove as much as possibile these decisions from politicos and leave it to a team of State and local supply operators.
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Spatula Whistle-Stop

Spatula

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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Atlantic_hurricane_season

There were 15 tropical storms and 5 hurricanes in 2007. Predictions ranged from 14-7 to 17-9. The latter was the result of a weak La Nina that year: ocean temperatures were much higher than normal, so the effect of La Nina was diminished in predictions. Despite that, predictions were reasonably close. It was a much less active year than the monstrous 28-15 season 2005 had, as it should've been.

Remember, 2007 wound up being the 2nd hottest year ever. It just wasn't hot in a manner that generated moisture apparently.

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dmccall Burg

dmccall

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You're exactly right, Swimmer. Nighttime watering leads to mold and grub problems, while afternoon watering evaporates WAY more than morning. Lawns absolutely don't need water every day, but I'd go more for the 3 days per week. All that is moot, really. Fescue lawns need 1" per week during the growing season. If we get rain, then the sprinkler doesn't need to go on as much.

The problem with alternate watering days is that it really penalizes those of us without an automated system. For instance, if young portions of my lawn really need a couple of hours of water one day, I have to be here to turn it on, move the sprinkler, and turn it off. I can't do that if I have to go to a wedding out of town on a Saturday. If I'm going to be here all day Sunday, however, I can handle it - but rules restrict me from doing so. What's the difference? It's still the same amount of watering!

Like y'all say, it's not the car washers and occasional power washers that cause shortages. In the face of the hottest month on record, people watering lawns sent us over the edge. Instead of basing policy on conditions that are historical outliers, we should base policy that guides people into using water correctly. I like the tiered rates, and I like the gallon consumption info on the water bill. I like Progress' usage graph on their bills. Awareness is a good thing

We could have a irrigation system licensing program for homeowners that regulates alternate day watering and sends educational materials to those using the most water. Until then, info ought to be sent to those using more than X gallons per month. Also, we should keep alternate watering days for those with irrigation systems. I don't think that people moving hoses around are using voracious amounts of water. They are the ones who are probably more in touch with their true usage. Definitely outlaw afternoon lawn watering of any type on any day.

Unfortunately we have people in City Gov't who have been approached by people with the Extension service, who offered help in making sensible recommendations, who were ignored. After 45 minutes of discussion, one key city official said,"Now what group is it that y'all are with?"

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dmccall Burg

dmccall

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I was wrong about a couple of concepts above. Just to get some more numbers out there so we feel the relative effects:

291.5' - Top of Dam (all h$&& breaks loose)

264.8' - Top of Spillway (overflowing)

251.5' - Top of Conservation pool

236.5' - Bottom of Conservation pool

I know the level dipped to 241.77 on 12/12/07. This is from the April 1 memo:

Rains of the past four days totaled 1.0 inches at the Falls Lake Dam rain gauge and lifted the lake to 249.85 feet, which is 1.65 feet below full. The water supply pool is approximately 76.6 percent for a total of 11.2 billion gallons. (The water supply pool is 14.6 billion gallons when full.)

On March 18, the Raleigh City Council gave City Manager J. Russell Allen the authority to return Raleigh

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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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they talked about having water up to 254 feet, but again they worry about Hurricane and tropical storm downstream flooding which is a real threat every year. Remember Fran and that mess and Floyd the flooding down stream on the Nuese river was real bad. Who knows, but watering after 10am is a waste with sprinklers, and yes I understand about the 3 day a week idea and being out of town. Look if the grass dies oh well I replant every fall and overwinter seed. Guess what my lawn looks fantastic today not a drop from a sprinkler!!! Fescue rebel type drought tolerant.

But again it will be at full conservation pool probably tomorrow!! Do you see the radar south of here right now? Lokk for 2+ inches of rain which will put the area 2+ inches ABOVE the year for rain and bring the deficit from jan of 07 to less than 6 inches.

Pattern has changed. You can tell by the fronts that have gone through the area. They now have west to northwest flows of air around high pressure systems. Last year we ended up with a NE flow and never were able to bring up any gulf moisture with that SE high pressure ridge.

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Jones_ City

Jones_

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Going to 254 should be ok for the same reason that we have such a hard problem keeping the lake at 251.5...small upstream watershed. Seeing what that does to the shoreline would have to looked at though, as piers would need rebuilt, most boat launches would go under and any private property lost would need to be paid for.

It almost seems like an entire branch of City government needs to be created to educate, monitor and enforce water rules. Like Dana is getting at, common sense is actually layers of "how to" and workshops at the CAC's and maybe even subdivision by subdivision might be a justifiable use of tax dollars (or water bill receipts).

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swimmer8866 Unincorporated Area

swimmer8866

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Falls Lake as of 8am sunday april 6 252.0 feet and still heading up. Looks like it might make 253 by the middle of the week with the runoff. Interesting to see how the stream flows look when it drys later this week. Again this lake can drop super quick IF dummies start watering the lawns, but then again IT JUST RAINED A TON!! You need not water an established lawn and if you planted new grass it does not need a whole lot of water!! Just enough to be damp until germanation!

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Raleighmark Whistle-Stop

Raleighmark

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I didn't water my grass one day last summer. Today it's as green as ever and growing like crazy.

Full is 251.5 ft. when it gets above that they have to start drawing down to try to maintain the lake level. Of course stream flow is taken into account. The lakes primary purpose is flood control.

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