Drought persists in Durham

Even though Durham County received four inches of rain last weekend, the added water did little to affect the drought, city officials said.

"The weekend rains only gave Durham about seven more days of water," said Eben Polk, associate in research at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. "Though it's helpful, this creates only a pretty small impact."

Durham should not expect that amount of rain over the course of three days to occur very often, Polk added.

Since the county still has a rain deficit of approximately 20 inches, it will take much more than a few days of rain to break the drought, he said.

"I think an inch of rain in a day is a pretty substantial amount and is not a typical rainfall" Polk said. "We are still in an 'extreme drought' and likely will stay that way, at least in the short run."

According to guidelines set by state officials, an extreme drought is the second-highest of the drought classifications and is characterized by major crop losses, widespread water shortages and an exceptionally high danger of fires.

In addition, significant rainfall is not expected until the spring, and regulations on water usage will likely stay in effect until that time, said James Lim, the conservation coordinator for the Durham Department of Water Management.

"The governor has requested that citizens cut back their water usage by 50 percent, and even with the recent rain, this certainly still applies," he said. "We have yet to see this amount of conservation... but we are still hopeful."

Even if the city received no extra water over the next several months, residents and students could still take showers and turn on their faucets as they normally would, Lim said.

"There are emergency supplies we can tap into like water below the ground and in other sources," he said. "This additional supply, however, is of lower quality and more difficult to treat before it is drinkable."

On the other hand, water prices could have the potential to skyrocket because increased, more expensive measures would have to be taken to isolate, purify and decontaminate the water, he added.

Before Durham runs out of water, the city government would enact higher levels of restriction and rationing to further decrease consumption. Homeowners and businesses that do not comply with the rationing would face surcharges and legal penalties from the state, Lim said.

"Rationing would mean the prohibition of watering anything outside," Polk said. "That means lawns, landscapes, flower beds, anything."

To prevent this stage of rationing, Polk said he encourages residents and students to cut back on their consumption.

"Depending on where you live in Durham, there are already some mandatory measures in place right now," he said. "But obviously, as a student, the best thing to do is take shorter showers, turn the water off when you're brushing your teeth and perhaps most importantly, learn about what kinds of things Duke is doing to cut water use and support them."