Drought Doesn't Deter Water Habits

Less than six months after pulling out of one of the worst droughts Southeastern North Carolina has ever endured, the region is largely back to using as much or more water as it did before the searing drought of 2007-08 really began to bite.

The pattern has been largely repeated across the state, according to data from public water systems supplied to the N.C. Division of Water Resources.

While not a big surprise, the increased water use does bring into question whether conservation and educational efforts promoted during the drought - such as restricting sprinkler use and pushing native vegetation that's more drought-tolerant - are effective long-term tools in curbing water use.

Environmentalists and others have said the drought was a wake-up call for North Carolina.

But getting people to change their habits might require more stick than carrot.

"People will conserve when asked to during a drought," said Bill Holman, a visiting scholar at Duke University and former head of the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund. "But for the long haul, we've got to have policies and prices that drive water efficiency because North Carolina's era of cheap and abundant water is ending."

The drought bill, championed by then-Gov. Mike Easley and passed by the General Assembly last year, does some of that by ordering municipal water systems to do away with price breaks for big water users. Now utilities have to charge the same rate for every gallon.

The bill also mandates water systems enact mandatory restrictions when droughts start getting severe and think about alternative sources, such as the reuse of water.

But there is little incentive in the legislation for customers to conserve water, or even watch their usage, when there isn't a drought situation.

"You can't treat water conservation like a New Year's resolution," said Molly Diggins, director or the Sierra Club's North Carolina chapter, of the public's hot-and-cold attitude toward the issue. "It has to be institutionalized."

Utilities are trying to do that. But raising water rates, primarily to upgrade aging infrastructure, might be a more effective long-term tool in curbing water use.

The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, for example, is looking at a 36 percent increase in water rates over the next five years. Some smaller utilities in the southern part of New Hanover County are looking at even bigger increases.

Officials said there are several possible reasons why water use in Wilmington and New Hanover County is increasing.

One is natural growth. The county will have added an estimated 10,000 residents between July 2007 and July 2009.

Cape Fear's problems getting bills out to customers in recent months could have many residents not thinking about their water use, since the cost is not biting them in the pocketbook - yet.

But the biggest reason, officials said, is probably human nature.

Like conservation measures adopted when gas topped $4 a gallon that have since lost momentum, people's inclination to save water evaporated when the rains came.

New Hanover County came out of drought conditions on Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

But there are signs that the region still hasn't recovered.

The large pond at Wilmington's Halyburton Park is still dry, as are some ephemeral wetlands scattered around the region.

Andy Wood, education director with Audubon North Carolina, said his research indicates that this is the only time since World War II that the Halyburton pond has been dry - and it's now going on three years without water.

That it hasn't refilled yet doesn't bode well for the shallow aquifer that recharges the pond and supplies water to many private irrigation wells.

State Climatologist Ryan Boyles said the state is on the edge of going back into widespread drought if it doesn't see some significant rainfall later this year. "We're certainly seeing hints of that," he said, noting falling stream flows in the central part of the state.

According to the National Weather Service's Wilmington office, the Port City has received 2.25 inches of rain so far this year - less than half our normal amount.

And La Nina conditions in the equatorial Pacific generally mean a drier winter and spring in the Southeastern United States. "This could be another tough year," Boyles said.