Grady sent me this cool online tool called H2O Conserve, where you can calculate your water footprint (much like The Nature Conservancy's Carbon Footprint Calculator). From the H2O Conserve website:

"The Calculator gives you an estimate of the total amount of water you use, what is called your water footprint. The Calculator takes into account not only the water used in your home, but also the water used to produce the food you eat and the products you buy. Your water footprint includes other factors such as water utilized to cool power plants that provide your electricity, and water saved when you recycle. You may not drink, feel or see this water, but it makes up the great majority of your water footprint."

According to the calculator, the average American uses over 1,000 gallons of water a day. My estimated usage was 571.96 gallons a day. At the end of the "quiz" it also gives you some tips for things you can do to lower that number even more. Pretty cool little tool. Check it out and post your results below by adding a comment (I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who can one-up my 571.96 gallons a day figure!)

While many North Carolinians are starting to bathe daily again as the state is coming out of a months-long drought, we want to remind folks of that not-so-distant past of mandatory conservation.

And, while our rivers and streams are flowing again, our groundwater isn't. You just need to take a look at this map of North Carolina's ground water network and then look at the data for each spot - most of the groundwater levels are below normal.  Even Brunswick County, in the eastern part of the state (where the drought wasn't as severe) is below the 'mean' water level.

This is all to say that we still need to protect and conserve our water resources in North Carolina. And, with this in mind, the NC Conservation Network is working with the NC Watershed Alliance (a coalition of twenty watershed protection and state-wide organizations working on the top water issues in our state) to host the 8th annual Clean Water Lobby Day on June 4 in Raleigh. Please consider joining us. We all need to remind legislators of the not-so-distant past and the continued need for state-wide water conservation.

Join us and make your voice heard.

On June 4, citizens from across the state will storm the NC General Assembly and ask our legislators to protect and conserve our water resources. We are hoping to talk to every legislator about the need for strong water protections, and we need your help to do so.

We hope that you'll make plans to join us and other concerned citizens from around the state for the 8th Annual Clean Water Lobby Day* on Wednesday, June 4 in Raleigh! 

With your help, every legislator in NC will hear from a constituent in his/her district about the top water issues in 2008:
1) Ensuring strong protections for coastal waters,
2) Limiting negative impacts from development in the mountains, and
3) Conserving our limited water resources.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if on Clean Water Lobby Day every legislator was visited by a constituent concerned about our water resources? Please help us make sure this happens and click here to sign up to visit your representatives. And, make sure to tell us who represents you!

Let's send a message to our state legislators that the citizens of NC demand strong water protections!

*Clean Water Lobby Day is an event that the NC Watershed Alliance (a coalition of 20 organizations focused on water issues) hosts annually. Clean Water Lobby Day provides individuals from across North Carolina the chance to talk to their legislators about protecting and conserving our water resources.

Have you seen the cute ads that Gov Mike Easley has put out recently, which showcase children noting how individuals can conserve water in their homes? Well, check out this N&O Editorial Cartoon response.

They sure do make a good point.

I'm sure most folks have heard by now that in a surprising turn of events, North Carolina's exceptional drought (and projected drought through the summer of 2008) seems to be easing up a bit on us. Hooray!

Mandatory restrictions are lightening up throughout the state, and more and more voluntary restrictions are taking their place. But what does this all mean?

I ran across a series of articles addressing the recent changes in the drought situation that I thought I'd pass along. The major points: water conservation methods should be observed at all times since water is a finite resource, water rates throughout the state may be increasing as the demand for water becomes higher and the quantity does not, and maybe it's time to look into using stormwater and/or wastewater for non-potable use.

• Get used to it: In Charlotte, the days of limitless, inexpensive water are over

• NC water users learn benefits of conservation (editorial)

• State planners urge water conservation

• Some water limits loosened after rains: Officials warn that conservation efforts will still be necessary
• Asheville lifts water conservation measure
  

If you haven't already, take action to let your decision-makers know that North Carolina needs year-round wise water-management practices. And be sure to let us know (by commenting below) how the recent changes have affected your communities.

For those of you who missed it, check out today's N&O's political cartoon. Yikes.

It used to be easy for me to stand waist-deep in the ocean, feel the salt water mist on my face, the sand between my toes, and the wind through my hair, and think about the vastness and powerfulness of our oceans. To me it used to seem almost surreal, that there could exist this seemingly indestructible giant mass of water that literally stretched to the ends of the earth.

But as I've gotten older, and learned more about the constant abuse that our oceans take, my view of them has changed. Now, they seem much more vulnerable to me, and these days when I stand waist-deep in the water, I wonder what will be left for my children, and my children's children.

A recent article from the Charlotte Observer highlights a study that was done in part by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill regarding the harmful effects that human activities have on our oceans.

"A widely held view for much of the 20th century was that the Earth's oceans are so deep and vast that they can absorb humankind's pollution-bearing abuse without adverse consequences.

Now a new report shows the effects of that benighted view: Every square kilometer of the Earth's oceans is affected by human activities -- and more than 40 percent of the oceans show medium to very-high-impact threats."

The study took into consideration many different types of human-abuse factors such as runoff from fertilizer, global climate change, shipping, and overfishing. To see which parts of the oceans are most affected, view the entire study [pdf] as it was published in Science magazine. Be sure to check out page 2 of the report which features a global map, highlighting the parts of the ocean most affected by human impacts.

I was extremely shocked to read an N&O article today stating that water usage in Raleigh seems to be increasing. I'm sorry—what? Increasing?

"The city's rolling 30-day average has risen from 39.2 million gallons a day two weeks ago to 40.5 million gallons a day now, said Dale Crisp, the city's public utilities director."

Honestly, I just can't believe it (but I do, of course). With the drought getting so much publicity (see here, here, and here for starters), and with the severity of the drought finally hitting home for so many folks who now realize that we are headed towards a huge problem this summer if things don't change soon, how can we be using more water each month?

If you're reading this blog, chances are you're already doing your part at home to minimize your water usage (whether you live in Raleigh or elsewhere in the state). But what you can also do is spread the word—to your neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family, and get them to step up to the plate and get serious about the drought.

If you're interesting in helping to spread the word, request water conservation tip cards from us; you can put them out at work, church, meetings, wherever! We'll mail the cards straight to your door (anywhere in North Carolina)—and leave the rest up to you.

Sadly, this year we weren’t able to make the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the world’s muckety-mucks meet to discuss major economic, environmental, and social challenges facing the globe.  So, we missed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s speech urging world leaders to put better water management near the top of their policy agendas for 2008.  Fortunately, DowJones has reported on the session for those of us who had other commitments:

"Water is running out….We need to adapt to this reality, just as we do to climate change," he said. "There is still enough water for all of us - but only so long as we can keep it clean, use it more wisely, and share it fairly."

This perspective isn’t just Ki-Moon’s; the article also quotes Andrew Liveris, the CEO of Dow Chemical: "Water is today's issue…It is the oil of this century, not a question."  

It’s an insight that also applies here at home in North Carolina: we can continue to live very well if we acknowledge the limits of supply, use it wisely, and share it fairly.  Take action today and urge your legislators to require efficient use of water, link growth decisions to water supplies, and update our water laws for the 21st century.

You can also click here for the full text of Ki-Moon’s short speech.

Hey folks! I wanted to let you all know that we've updated the drought video so that it runs much more smoothly. Please check it out on the original page, or view it below. Let us know what your thoughts and reactions are!

Special thanks to: Bob Epting, Pilot; and Dave Zahn, Videographer.

Please make sure to turn up your sound before watching the video and press "play" to begin.

This video requires Windows Media 9 or greater to run in your browser (if you're using Internet Explorer, you may have to run "ActiveX" to view the video). If the video does not play in this page please click here to download. Windows Media Player updates can be downloaded from Microsoft.

This video is also available in a High Definition Quicktime format. To attempt streaming this footage in High Definition (720P) click here to view in QuickTime. Quicktime updates can be downloaded from Apple.

My sister Lisa flew into Raleigh from New York for the Thanksgiving holiday just like she does every year. I always pick her up at RDU and we drive up to our parent’s house in Hendersonville for the Holiday. My sister, like many people, knew the south is in a drought but could not believe her eyes as she flew over North Carolina. She was very moved by what she saw. Just before Lisa flew back to New York we got together with my good friend Jenny for some pizza and beers. Over dinner the conversation naturally drifted to the drought and how extreme the conditions have become. Lisa commented that because of how bad it is she had contemplated if she should shower in Hendersonville or Raleigh or just wait until she got back to New York. After a good laugh about this she wished out loud that more people could see what she saw. Without missing a beat my friend Jenny suggested we ask her friend Bob to take us up in his plane to take pictures of the water supplies around the Triangle. Bob graciously agreed and my friend Dave volunteered to take video footage.

On Saturday December 1st Bob, Dave, and I flew out of the Chapel Hill Airport and over the water supplies for Chapel Hill, Cary, Raleigh, and Durham. I was speechless for the majority of the flight. (I know…that is hard to believe for those of you who know me, but I was.) The next day I went hiking with my friend Michael, who is an avid paddler, down the lower Haw River to where it becomes Jordan Lake. He showed me where the lake normally starts, pointed out rocks that should be covered with water, and showed me where rapids use to be. It was a very sad sight. The river was so low it looked more like a rock rubble field than a river. 

What I saw over the course of twenty-four hours was so overwhelming I don’t know how to put words to it. You’ll have to see for yourself:

• Click here to view the video footage; it is 19 minutes long but well worth the time.
• I started this group on flickr with all the photos I took and encourage you all to add your own pictures of how the drought is impacting where you live:

A lot of people think the answer to our water supply problem is to add more capacity or to build more reservoirs’. After seeing firsthand all the dried up tributaries, learning that treated wastewater is a lot of the stream flow into places like Jordan Lake, plus the very obvious lack of significant rainfall I have to ask…where will the water come from to fill these reservoirs?

Each of us needs to tighten our water conservation belts and encourage all of those around us to do the same. Just this week the News & Observer ran and article on how “…water use in Triangle communities has leveled and, in some cases, crept up again over the last month.” We all could be doing a little more. For tips on how to conserve water checkout the NC Division of Water Resources site by clicking here.

It also seems that it’s time for North Carolina leaders to look at long-term solutions to make sure we avoid a water supply crisis. This is why the NC Conservation Network is urging state leaders to:

• set statewide water use efficiency standards;
• require local governments to consider water availability before approving new development; and
• replace our outdated water rules with a comprehensive law that meets the state’s current needs.

You can join us in urging action by signing our online petition today. Click here to view the petition.  If you would like additional background information on these recommendations please click here.

I hope that you will share our story and pictures with others in North Carolina. As my sister said,

“If more people could see what I saw maybe they would think twice about how much water they are using.”

I want to say a special thank you to Lisa, Jenny, Bob, Dave and Michael for their time, ideas, and knowledge.

Please take a moment to share your story of how the drought is impacting your life with us by clicking on the add comment button.

The drought has continued this week for all of North Carolina. It seems it's the only thing folks can talk about. Meteorologists are seeming overly optimistic lately in noting that weather action in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean could spin our way and hopefully give us just a few drops of rain in the eastern-most part of the state. The true optimism of this statement is noticed when you know that the predicted chance of rain is 30% for Sunday only in Raleigh.

But, for the rest of us, who aren't meteorologists nor optimists, we are faced with the reality that exists in NC currently: we're in a serious drought that may last for months.

So what? And, so what can I do?

First, the so what?:

Well, if there's no water, there's no life.

But if you need additional reasons, check out the list from the NC Division of Water Quality.

NC Conservation Network sent out an email last week listing some of the things homeowners can do to cut back on their water use. How many of those listed are you currently doing? Just this morning, I used three of those tricks: 1) I cut my shower time in half by turning off the water while shaving my legs; 2) I used the water from my rain barrel to water my plants; and 3) my toilet now has a plastic bottle lessening the amount of water we use to flush.

In addition to improving your water usage in your home, you should also take a look at any outdoor uses as well. Hopefully, you don't live in this Wake Forest neighborhood, and can implement some water-saving techniques.

The last thing I'd recommend is to keep talking about it. The more folks know about the drought and the more folks hear about easy water-saving tips, the more likely they are to be cognizant of their own water consumption. So, keep talking!

As a follow up to Grady's Rain barrel rescue blog post, there was an interesting article on Tuesday regarding changing the state building code to install concrete rainwater tanks in homes--for flushing toilets, for instance. According to the article:

Dan Tingen, chair of the Building Code Council and also a homebuilder, indicated an initially favorable reception to the idea.

"It's absolutely forward thinking, and I would expect to sometime have those provisions in North Carolina," said Tingen.

[...]

"We're to the point as an industry that we recognize we've got to save and we've got to create new, innovative ways of preserving water," said Tingen.

In addition to conserving water in a state that often sees the need for water conservation, the tanks would save money by lowering water bills, eliminate using processed and purified water for things like flushing toilets, and reduce stormwater runoff (an increasingly important issue in North Carolina).

A few weeks ago was my roommate's birthday and a bunch of us got together for a big cookout out on Jordan Lake. There were tons of folks at the Lake that day, with many kids playing in the sand and in the lake itself. I got to thinking about water quality, and wondering just how safe the water was that all those kids were splashing around in.

Just a few weeks later, I discovered the NC Conservation Network was working with a coalition of other groups to clean up Jordan, primarily because of wastewater from sewage treatment plants, plus runoff from development, which has damaged upstream creeks and brought more pollution than Jordan Lake can handle. (For more information on what's at stake, click here.) If we don't act now, these problems will get worse: fish will die, people swimming in the lake will get sick, and the cost to treat water for drinking will increase.

The NC Environmental Management Commission (EMC) has proposed a package of rules to clean up Jordan Lake, requiring all sources of pollution to be cut back. But, the rules are now years behind schedule.

Submit your comments today and lett the EMC know that Jordan needs strong rules—promptly and without further delay—to protect this important drinking water supply and recreation area...for many more birthday celebrations to come!

That's right - give it back!

This is what some students from a middle school in downtown Raleigh are requesting in a new video produced by the Neuse River Foundation that was released this week.

Tell us what you think of the video.

In addition, the Neuse River Foundation is asking people to contact their legislators in support of H1822, which would phase out hog lagoon and sprayfield systems in NC. To find contact information for your NC legislators, click here.

Close, but no cigar.

On Monday night, Jon Stewart, host of the nightly "news" show, The Daily Show, had Senator John Kerry on to promote his new book, This Moment on Earth.

Senator Kerry describes his book, noting it's about more than just global warming, it also discusses 'toxins, chemicals, cancer, and what we're doing to our water.' Senator Kerry then asks Jon Stewart if he is familiar with the Riverkeepers - and Jon replies "Sure...Kennedy's the Riverkeeper." Nice work Jon!

Senator Kerry then tells a story of a 67-year old marine living in North Carolina who went fishing and developed leisons on his hands and how other fishermen developed memory loss. He continues that these citizens discovered the problem was a result of massive amounts of hog waste running into the rivers. Nice work Senator Kerry!

What Senator Kerry failed to mention though, is that the 67-year old veteran is our own Rick Dove! And that Rick Dove later became the first Riverkeeper in North Carolina, with the Neuse River Foundation. The Neuse River Foundation came so close...but no cigar: they were really close to being mentioned by name on The Daily Show.

To view the segment, click here. The piece on Rick Dove is about 4 minutes into the program.

Our kudos still go out to The Daily Show and to Senator Kerry for giving the issue air time, despite Senator Kerry not mentioning our NC hero's name nor including pictures in his book (sorry Jon).

This week the Triangle will get to hear from Tyrone Hayes, a biologist and herpetologist of UC Berkeley, on his experience with frog populations as an indicator for cancer risks from contaminated water sources.  He’ll be speaking at NC Central University on Thursday thanks to a collaborative effort between the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences at NC Central and PESTed.  He will also be speaking on the UNC Chapel Hill campus on Wednesday. 

In an online bio, Hayes explains that he is currently assessing the affects in frogs that have been exposed to the world’s most common herbicide and contaminant of ground and surface water:  Atrazine.  According to Scorecard: The Pollution Information Website, Atrazine is a potential carcinogen.  Hayes is interested in effective public policies that address environmental and social concerns and is in particular

concerned about the adverse impacts of Atrazine on endangered species and on racial/ethnic minorities. Prostate and breast cancer are two of the top causes of death in Americans age 25-40, but in particular Black and Hispanic Americans are several times more likely to die from these diseases.

His experience in biology, environmental justice, and the environmental impacts of pesticides should provide for a fascinating lecture.  Be sure to attend and let us know how it goes!

PS. Check out your county’s pollution profile in English or in Spanish! 

Recently, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) voted to approve transfers of water from the Catawba and Yadkin River basins to feed the growing towns of Concord and Kannapolis in the Rocky River watershed. Local governments, environmental advocates, and the State of South Carolina have threatened to sue, and the EMC’s decision will employ a tribe of lawyers. Both sides are already bemoaning the bitterness of this water war. 

How did this come to pass? The short answer is that the EMC’s decision reflects an obsolete approach to water resource management. It is an approach that says, ‘North Carolina has plenty of water for all uses; we just need to build dams to impound it and pipelines to move it around.’  This way of thinking about water is a mistake for two reasons. 

First, there may not be plenty of water, overall. Supporters of the transfer – including Division of Water Resources staff – have cited 75 years of historical climate data to argue that the transfers will barely affect lake levels or river flows. But the next 25 years are unlikely to look much like the last 75. We are in a period of rapid climate change, and most models suggest that the state should expect less rain, higher temperatures, and greater per capita demand for water.    

More importantly, the focus on engineering solutions hides hard choices that, sooner or later, must be made: when the water really does run low, who gets it?  In the recent debate, the EMC sidestepped this question, focusing instead on the stringent water conservation measures Concord and Kannapolis will impose when drought occurs.  Those measures are admirable, but will likely offset local sources first, boosting rather than reducing reliance on the transfer. 

Similarly, the EMC dealt with uncertainty about the ultimate impacts of the transfer by promising to ‘reopen’ it if a problem arises in the future. However, once Concord and Kannapolis have welcomed thousands more residents, it will be very hard to alter the transfer. By failing to set clearer limits now, the EMC has guaranteed that when water in the Catawba does eventually run low, every option for managing the resource will cause significant pain. 

Unfortunately, our current water laws encourage this short-sighted approach. North Carolina has two major water laws: the “interbasin” transfer statute, which has delivered to us the Concord-Kannapolis breakdown; and the “Capacity Use Area” statute, which allows the EMC to impose patchwork rules to control ground or surface water use in areas of the state where water is running low. So far, the EMC has been slow to invoke capacity use areas, taking years to act even after problems emerge. Apart from these two laws, businesses and communities are left to fend for themselves under the common law doctrine of “riparian” rights, whose ambiguities can only be resolved through litigation.  This legal structure is an invitation to water wars.

The experience of other states shows that there are better – and worse – ways to manage water. Many western states, facing water scarcity from the outset, have suffered costly legislative and courtroom fights, both within and between states. Wiser western states have adopted comprehensive statutory reform, giving businesses and communities clear expectations of the available resources, and clarifying which users will receive priority. Eastern states like New York and Pennsylvania have gone the western states one better, adopting comprehensive water laws before water conflicts could become pervasive. 

North Carolina has been blessed with abundant water resources, and is one of the last states to confront water scarcity. But water supply issues are emerging across the state – not just in the Concord-Kannapolis fight, but also in the struggles of coastal plain communities to find new water sources; dropping groundwater levels in Bladen County; growing demand in the eastern Triangle; supplies for development in the upper Yadkin basin; and claims on the French Broad by swelling mountain communities. North Carolina would be wise to pursue comprehensive water law reform while most of our communities can still avoid entrenched positions and acrimonious water wars.

North Carolina is making a decision today that could start a virtual water war with South Carolina.  Our Environmental Managment Commission is considering whether to approve the transfer of water out of the Catawba basin (which flows directly into South Carolina), which could put SC cities and towns at a higher risk for drought damage. 

According to The State:

S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster has threatened to sue if the N.C. Environmental Management Commission approves a request Wednesday from two N.C. cities to withdraw up to 36 million gallons a day for drinking water from the Catawba River. The two cities propose to dispose of treated wastewater into another river basin that flows into the Pee Dee River.  [...]

“States who share water need to develop plans and procedures for handling their growth and water resources so as not to adversely impact each other,” McMaster said.

“If the (Environmental Management Commission) approves the transfer under any circumstance, we will bring the lawsuit.”

Our friends at the Catawba River Foundation have also been working hard to fight this transfer, and will continue to fight if the EMC approves the action.  We'll be keeping an eye on the issue and will let you know how it plays out.