North Carolina free from extreme drought

North Carolina is free from extreme drought in the latest advisory issued by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) on Thursday.

As of July 25, DMAC classified five counties in severe drought, 30 counties in moderate drought, and 47 counties as abnormally dry. (Data for Dare and Hyde counties was not immediately available for classification in Thursday’s latest map.)

“Widespread, heavy rainfall has resulted in a one-category improvement across most of the state,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the DMAC. “While the deficits from June and early July have not been completely erased, conditions have improved significantly. The rains from this week should result in continued improvement.”

For counties in severe drought, or D2, DMAC recommends water users should implement Water Shortage Response Plans, participate in regional and local coordination for the management of water resources, reexamine water delivery systems to minimize water loss and maximize efficiency and eliminate nonessential users of water.

Counties in moderate drought, or D1, should adhere to local water use restrictions, and participate, as appropriate, in regional and local coordination for the management of water resources.

DMAC’s drought map is updated weekly on Thursdays.   

DMAC is a collaboration of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, and organized by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR). Members of DMAC meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor (i.e., drought map), a map of the nation’s drought conditions. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit www.ncdrought.org. To view the U.S. drought map, visit http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/.