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Drought Update
March 7, 2008

Although we had some welcome rainfall recently, Pitt County continues to be dryer than normal and the drought is still going strong. During most of February, the western part of Pitt County was in an exceptional drought, which is the worst category. The rest of the county was in the extreme category. The most recent North Carolina Drought Monitor report indicates that the entire county had been downgraded to the Severe category. Even though the situation has improved, all signs indicate that we’re still in this for the long haul.

There is some good news though. Thanks to the rain, river conditions are currently closer to historical median flows. GUC staff is keeping a close watch on the intrusion of saltwater from the Pamlico River, which merges with the Tar in Washington. Normally this saltwater wedge is about 25 miles away from our Water Treatment Plant intake. In December it moved to within 10 miles of the WTP. Now, it is east of the Highway 17 bridge in Washington, which is where it should be.

Our Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert that was declared in December is still in effect and will continue until weather conditions are more favorable. We would need near average rainfall (between 3-5 inches per month) over the next several months in order to maintain an adequate water supply.  

We continue to encourage customers to voluntarily conserve water. Click here to learn more.