At Lake Michie, which supplies water to Durham, water levels remain low. Areas that would normally be covered by water are still exposed, illustrating the ongoing severity of the drought and the need for continued restrictions.
City officials said declining reservoir levels led Durham to bypass Stage 1 restrictions and move directly to Stage 2 water restrictions on June 15.
North Carolina drought tracker: Latest restrictions, water levels and drought impacts
"And it was happening faster than we felt comfortable with," a city official said.
The move caught many residents by surprise, but officials defended the more aggressive response.
"Yeah, I mean, this caught everyone off guard, but I rather surprised everyone with the more aggressive or aggressive approach to water conservation rather than the gradual, losing the sensitivity of how important this is," the official said.
Under Stage 2 restrictions, spray irrigation at homes is prohibited. Mayor Leonardo Williams said acting sooner helped the city conserve water before conditions worsened.
"It allowed us to get ahead of what we had to deal with, and thank God for rain. Right. But it's still not enough," Williams said. "But I do want to shout out the whole city for following the requests from City Hall. There was a 12% drop in water usage. We're still not out of the woods yet, but I just really appreciate everyone making sure we all follow the rules."
Raleigh eyes further restrictions
Meanwhile, Raleigh is preparing for the possibility of tighter restrictions of its own.
The City Council approved a measure allowing the city manager to move Raleigh into Stage 2 restrictions before reservoir levels reach the automatic trigger point.
Falls Lake is currently at 62% capacity and continues to decline. Under existing rules, Stage 2 restrictions would automatically take effect if the lake falls below 45% capacity.
Officials said the change gives the city flexibility to act sooner if conditions warrant.
"Falls Lake has always been full on April 1st except for this year, that goes back over 100 years, so I'm just trying to press home how unusual this drought is," said Ed Buchan of Raleigh Water.
Buchan said Stage 1 restrictions have not produced the reductions in water use officials had hoped to see.
"Unfortunately were not able to do that. We did that in April and first part of May, then it obviously got a lot warmer and dry and then our demands have gone up quite a bit since then, so unfortunately we've gone in the wrong direction," Buchan said.
With summer continuing and reservoir levels remaining low, officials in both Durham and Raleigh said future rainfall will play a critical role in preserving the region's water supply.
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