Durham Reporter

Forecasts for a wet winter have so far been true for our community, and all of the recent rain has helped to refill our drinking water reservoirs.

Dry conditions throughout the summer and fall pushed central North Carolina into drought conditions, including Durham. The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council reported Durham moving into the “Severe Drought” category on November 14, 2023. That status remained through the December 19 update.

As of December 10, we recorded that Lake Michie was at 32% of prime storage (about 880 million gallons) and Little River Reservoirs was at 31% of prime storage (about 1,060 million gallons). If conditions remained dry, restrictions may have been put in place to help preserve the remaining water supply.

Thankfully, we did start to receive steady rain as a holiday gift and have seen our reservoirs recover well in the last few weeks.

Lake Michie is now at 100% of prime storage at over 2.8 billion gallons, with Little River Reservoir also at capacity with more than 3.4 billion gallons.

While we are excited to share this update, it is always important to remember to use water wisely! Our Water Management Department maintains information on our website about current water supply levels and how to use water efficiently.

Original source can be found here.