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Tuesday the Raleigh City Council lifted
the mandatory stage 2 water conservation
measures that have been in effect since
last November and went to voluntary
water conservation while urging
moderation in water use.
The council’s action affects
Wake Forest residents because the city
owns the town’s water and sewer systems.
The good news is that Falls
Lake is filled to its normal pool –
251.5 feet above mean sea level –
because of the recent rains.
The not-so-good news is that
the flow from the tributaries that feed
the lake – the Eno, Flat and Little
rivers – is diminishing rapidly. For an
hourly update on the flows, you can go
to
http://epec.saw.usace.army.mil/dssfalls.txt.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which operates the Falls dam,
is now releasing about 130 cubic feet of
water per second to stabilize the lake
level, Terry M. Brown, the water control
manager for the Corps’ Wilmington
district, reported Tuesday. Earlier, the
Corps had been releasing 100 cfs or less
because the lake had not returned to
normal levels. Both the water supply and
the water quality pools are at 100
percent.
Brown wrote in his weekly
e-mail that “the improvement of the
Falls Lake level may be temporary.”
He had two questions. “Is
this shift to more rainfall a temporary
change? Secondly, is this shift enough
to offset a very dry February and March
with low river flows which are normally
the two highest flowing months of the
year?”
Falls Lake is the water
supply for about 350,000 Wake County
residents.
Lifting the stage 2
restrictions means that Wake Forest,
Garner, Rolesville, Wendell, Knightdale,
Zebulon and Raleigh residents now may
fill their swimming and ornamental
pools, power wash their homes, sidewalks
and driveways and water their lawns at
any time. |
