Drought crisis possible in March
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
By Chris Fitzsimon
Duke: Without rain, area faces emergency
BRUCE HENDERSON
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
Duke Energy, for the first time, put a date Tuesday on when Catawba River communities could begin to gasp for water: mid-March.
That’s when the shallowest water intakes on Catawba reservoirs would have too little water over them to pump normally.
At that point, the region’s water supply would be increasingly tenuous, likely prompting a shift from conservation to emergency measures.
"Our position is that when the first intake goes, it affects us all," said Maeneen Klein, conservation coordinator for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities.
Duke, which manages the Catawba under a federal license, says the March projection is based on worse-than-likely circumstances. While many cities pull water from a single reservoir, the Charlotte region uses a more complex system that moves water among 11 lakes covering 225 river miles. (more…)
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