Van_Denton's Blog

For weeks I have been asked, how can we still be in a drought when our Lakes and Rivers are looking good?

There are several ways that a drought is measured.  Some of these methods no longer have us in a drought.  As a matter of fact the soild moisture is looking really good right now.  The recent rains are going to be excellent for planting and growing crops in the new few months.

The problem is the long-term pattern.  We show the Drought Monitor on television and it doesn't look very good for us.  On Tuesday, I spoke with Jeff Orrock with the National Weather Service in Raleigh and asked him why we are still considered to be in such a drought when everything looks normal.

After speaking with him it is more clear.  For long-term concerns, they look much deeper, literally.  How far does one have to dig to find water.  There are not many places around where readings are kept for groundwater, but one nearby location is in Mocksville.  Typically, this time of year, a digger would have to dig 16 feet to get to the groundwater.  Right now, they must dig 19 feet.  That means at that location, the water level is still 3 feet below normal. 

As it was explained to me, that means that although the lakes look good now, if we have a period of dry weather, the water levels will drop faster than normal due to the dry ground below.  Couple that with the increasing evaporation from warmer temperatures and higher sun angles over the next several months and greatrt water use, there is still a  concern in North Carolina for drought conditions to worsen this summer.