No country for thirsty men

In North Carolina's Triangle, a severe drought has leaders stumped

Posted by Tom Philpott at 10:02 AM on 26 Feb 2008

Read more about: North Carolina | severe weather | water crisis | placemaking

North Carolina's Triangle -- Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh -- counts as the state's economic, educational, and political engine. It's also very quickly running out of water, parched by a severe drought.

Are the area's leaders doing anything constructive to respond to the situation? So far, the signs aren't encouraging. I've been following the story in the excellent daily Raleigh News & Observer. On Monday, the N&O reported that Raleigh has exactly one agreement with another local entity to buy water in case of an emergency.

The agreement is with Durham -- and there's a problem:

Durham's is perhaps the one Triangle water system with less water than Raleigh's, and it couldn't sell water to the Capital City even if the pipes were in place to do so.

Oh yeah, the pipes necessary to transfer water from Durham to Raleigh don't exist. That makes two problems.

Meanwhile, the Raleigh City Council rejected a moratorium on new homes within the parched city. Harvey Schmitt, president of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, opposed the ban with the zeal of President Bush defending his misadventure in Iraq.

"Growth is not the problem," he declared. "The drought is the problem. We need to stay the course."

Right. Maybe he can get President Bush to invade and occupy the drought?

Meanwhile, the city is on the verge of entering what's known as Stage 3 water restrictions. Building on "Stage 2" bans on lawn watering and the like, Stage 3 would require restaurants to use disposable dishes and use only bottled water. Brilliant. One word -- plastics!

For story: No country for thirsty men
8 Comments | Post a Comment

Chambers of Commerce...

...both nationally and locally, are increasingly becoming impediments sustainable practices and climate crisis response. The US Chamber of Commerce in particularly is extremely belligerent, wielding massive influence to prevent meaningful GFG legislation or anything that challenges traditional growth structures.

Is there a movement within or against the US Chamber of Commerce to green its awful ways?

by Alex 77 at 10:37 AM on 26 Feb 2008

That is brilliant

in it's pure stupidity.

Next they'll mandate that no fresh food be served (can't be wasting water on actually growing crops).

I love to go out to dinner to eat mircrowaveable crap with plastic forks! Yum!

by kmp at 12:19 PM on 26 Feb 2008

Too many people, too little water

As a resident of Raleigh I think the fundamental problem is the growth of the area.

The local resources just can't sustain this kind of growth; nor can our roads, schools, etc. support all the people moving here.

In Raleigh we get our water from Falls Lake, which is quite low. I go up there a lot for campfires on the beach. Our fire pit used to be about 20 feet from the water, now it's about 120 feet from the water.

by gqsmoothie at 12:28 PM on 26 Feb 2008

Yep KMP

Especially when it is cooked by disgruntled illegal workers from cultures where the germ theory is not part of the knowledge base. Or disgruntled youngsters who have viewed the movie "Fight Club".

Think about it next time you eat out. Blech!

Real water conservation is not anywhere on the list of possible solutions? As usual.

Drip irrigation, water recycling, biodigestion of the waste stream that reclaims water, composting toilets, air pressure/water spray mixing for washing and showering, real solutions like these are never even brought up.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 12:29 PM on 26 Feb 2008

Low flow

For instance, the dreaded low flow shower heads would work just fine with 20 psi air pressure added. And use maybe one tenth the water.

Low flow, air pressure aided sink fauncets, dish, and clothes washers would be just as effective as the regular design too, with a fraction of the water use.

Bucky Fuller invented this for his Dymaxion bathroom after noticing how blown ocean spray removed grease from his skin, while onboard a ship.

Furthermore, air pressure for this use could be used to store renewable power.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 12:37 PM on 26 Feb 2008

Wimps.

That "severe drought" is a good rain year in the Southwest. Since they don't have the storage or water conservation systems in place it's going to be hell but anything over 10 inches yearly is survivable for people.

The ecosystem, as elsewhere on the planet, will be trashed. No news there.

nature bats last, as usual.

Put the Carbon Back

by Pangolin at 12:58 PM on 26 Feb 2008

Hey Pangolin...

...a little unfair, no? This ain't the desert. We haven't ever had to steal water from elsewhere to survive. And I bet we eat local way more than you can -- we grow tons of our own organic food right here in central NC.

Nevertheless Raleigh did plan in a piss-poor manner, figuring the rain would keep falling as it ever has. But neighboring towns -- Cary, Chapel Hill, etc. -- planned much better and as a result are in much better shape water-wise, even with rampant growth (which I am in no way justifying, so don't even try it...)

by GreenMom at 4:51 PM on 26 Feb 2008

It's getting better all the time

2/21/2008 7:21:00 AM

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=199519 ...

The Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States: Widespread precipitation fell across drought-affected areas of the Southeast, resulting in some slight reductions in the coverage and intensity of moderate to exceptional drought (D1 to D4). Seven-day totals in excess of 2 inches were common from central Alabama and Georgia into the coastal plain of the Carolinas.

by jabailo at 6:22 PM on 26 Feb 2008

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