Contact: Allan Williams, (336) 373-2050
Lavelle Donnell, (336) 373-4601

Voluntary Water Use Reductions Requested

GREENSBORO (August 10, 2007) -- The City of Greensboro is asking its water customers to voluntarily reduce water consumption. 

Annual rainfall recorded for Greensboro is eight inches below normal. Reservoir levels are continuing to drop at higher rates than normal, in part because of higher temperatures and lack of rainfall, which increases irrigation demand, and also because the lack of rain has reduced stream contributions to lakes to nil. 

No short-term or long-term relief is predicted, either in rainfall or temperatures. As a result, the City encourages everyone to use water as efficiently as possible. 

The current inventory of water is 6 billion gallons (79 percent full) vs. 4.3 billion gallons on this date in 2002 (55 percent full), when Greensboro experienced a severe drought. Mandatory water restrictions are put into place when the water supply drops to 150 days. The City's current water supply is estimated at 170 days.

Over the last several weeks, the purchase of supplemental water from Reidsville, Burlington, and Winston-Salem has helped reduce the demand on the City’s lake reserves. The overall average demand for finished water is about 44 million gallons per day, and 18 percent (about 8 million gallons per day) of that total comes from these outside sources. The recent spike in temperatures has driven demand up approximately 2 to 4 million gallons per day. 

Daily watering of turf is discouraged, and residents should consider resetting irrigation systems to every second or third day.

City staff members can help you find ways to conserve. For more information, call Lavelle Donnell at 373-4601. 

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