Water Levels OK Through Winter

This just in from OWASA:

The Cane Creek Reservoir and University Lake are 68 percent full despite dry weather in recent months. As of Monday morning, the water stored in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community's two reservoirs totaled 2.3 billion gallons, and water use in the last week has averaged about 10.3 million gallons per day.

Although the dry weather in recent months has affected some reservoirs in the region more significantly, OWASA's lake levels are about normal for this time of year. University Lake and the Cane Creek Reservoir have more than twice as much water as they did at this time in 2002 during the area's worst drought on record.

OWASA officials do not foresee a need for additional mandatory water use restrictions this fall or winter, but additional conservation measures could be necessary if the lakes do not refill by spring. (Since operation of the Cane Creek Reservoir began in 1989, the only year when both lakes were not full by early spring was in the severe drought of 2002.)

“While we're in good shape today, conservation by all our customers is essential. This will help to make sure that, even if there are extended droughts in the future, supplies will still be available from our local, high quality sources. By saving water, our customers can also save money of their water, sewer and energy bills,” said Mac Clarke, Chair of the OWASA Board of Directors.