The Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group announced that August’s dry weather has moved the Catawba-Wateree Basin into stage-one drought level of the Low Inflow Protocol. The protocol is the regional drought management plan that major water users in the basin use to manage limited water supply during periods of low inflow.
Stage one is the second of five drought stages outlined in the Low Inflow Protocol and recommends voluntary water conservation by all water users.
“While some areas of the basin have received normal or above-normal rainfall, the lack of widespread precipitation across the basin the past several weeks has resulted in the return of drought conditions to the Basin,” said Ed Bruce of Duke Energy
Bruce believes that if significant rainfall does not come in September, then drought conditions will worsen.
For more information about the drought-management group, visit www.dukeenergy.com/lakes/cwdmag.asp.