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Drought questions
The historic drought afflicting North Carolina raises all sorts of questions about water, weather and our depleted reservoirs. Ask us your questions and we’ll find the answers. Post your questions here or send them to editor Richard Stradling at richard.stradling@newsobserver.com or at 215 S. McDowell St., Raleigh, NC 27601.
Water, water, all around......
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'richard.stradling@newsobserver.com' Trip to the Water Table 8:55 AM 9 KB in these desperate times.
I certainly support conservation efforts in thse desperate times, but they are but a "drop in the bucket".
However, I’ve had a 200 foot well through limestone a mile above Crabtree Valley for over forty years, serving our household needs, the garden, and the lawn. It has never failed to deliver whatever the demand, in rainy years and in previous times of severe drought. Neighbors have had the same success.
My question that no one seems to want to answer is why have Raleigh, Wake County, and our regional planning authorities not considered and implemented an emergency back-up plan to supplement surface water sources by over time sinking large bore high capacity deep wells over the region, for use during desperate times like those we now face?
I admit that I know very little about the Castle Hayne aquifer, but I see no logic in tapping the wasted millions of gallons gushing from it into the Pamlico River from the mining operation in Aurora and piping it to our area as suggested by some, when it may be an accessible river flowing 200 feet below us in Wake County. What I do know is that with a backhoe, catfish farmers from Ayden to Belhaven tap into the aquifer ten feet below the surface, supplying fresh water for commercial catfish ponds all up and down the Pamlico. Why not us?
C. Franklin Church MD
8817 Valentine Court
Raleigh 27615
919-870-7462
lin@linchurch.com
Here is a generalized geologic map of North Carolina:
http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/n_statemap_NC2000.htm
There's no limestone anywhere near Crabtree Valley as this whole region has a bedrock of metamorphic nature, mostly gneisses and schists and then to the east of this is a granite pluton. I'm afraid the only ground water flowing through these rocks is just that which happens to pass through the many fissures in this otherwise solid bedrock - not a bad source at all when Raleigh was much smaller and at one time had numerous wells and water towers too, but the potential supply of ground water here today is no match for the needs of the present expansion since then.
Days Left of Water Supply
The N&O on 11/14 wrote that there were "115 days of water supplies" left for Raleigh.
I would like to know what will happen on "day 116"? Will the toilets stop flushing (?) will no water flow when a faucet is turned on (?), etc.
What is our city/county plan that will go into effect if we ever get to "day 115"? And, if there is no plan, when do our representatives expect to produce one ??
days left of water supply
The Raleigh area depends on hurricanes and winter rains to fill the reservoirs.There have been no hurricanes this year and there is not enough rain in the long term forecast to sustain us. What are we to think, then, but that there is a disaster of epic proportions awaiting us come February or March.
Here is the scenario: On "Day 110", schools, businesses, hospitals, etc., will be closing; people will be streaming out of the city in a desperate search for water; there will be widespread civil unrest, and human suffering on a scale that we haven't seen since hurricane Katrina.
We think this cannot possibly happen to us; we've always had enough water. But the facts are staring us in the face.
When the water runs out, it's not as if we have motnhs or even weeks to find a solution. We can't last more than a few days without water.
We can hope and pray for rain, but in the meantime, we had better come up with a plan to deal with this potential catastrophe.
Water Usage
Approximately how much water will be needed to construct the recently approved Super-Wal-Mart to be built across from Triangle Town Center and Poyner Place? How much water does a Wal-Mart typically use for its' daily operations?
Thanks!
According to this article,
According to this article, an average Wal-Mart supercenter uses 8500 gallons per day. That equates to 9.5 acre-feet of water per year.
http://walmart.nwanews.com/wm_story.php?paper=bcdr&storyid=53910
Desalination redux
Conservation is not an effective strategy for the future. The governor and legislators ought to be looking into something that actually generates water.
NC has hundreds of miles of coastline. Sydney Australia is developing desalination plants to help ease their drought troubles. Why not us?
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/EnsuringtheFuture/Desalination/
Yes, it would take a while and be expensive, but so is the lack of water. We can pump oil across Alaska, why not water from the coast into reservoirs and aquifers throughout the state? And as much as I don't like most taxes, I would pay a tax for this is if handled properly
Conservation goes hand in hand with historic preservation; being without it is like allowing for locusts to come in and not having a storehouse. Does anyone know how much water goes missing in North Carolina from a typical large city's aging water lines?
just sent this to the N&O Forum...
Two years ago, when I moved here, I wrote to the N&O’s Forum, asking why, with Falls Lake so low [yes, it was low then, too], nobody was discussing dredging it to increase its capacity.Now, it’s two years later, and had it been deepened and scoured out of tires, arrowheads and the like, it’s possible that today’s “remaining capacity” might be more like 180 days than 30 or 60.Well, that’s water over the… you know.The idea I’d like to bring to everyone’s attention now is that virtually every word that’s been used on TV or in print media has been about conservation. Conserve more, conserve more! We’re not conserving enough! We’re down 20% in consumption: that’s not enough! We’re down 40% in consumption: that’s not enough!And never heard is one little peep from anyone responsible for supplying our drinking water about anything anyone is doing to increase supply.In some sane world, when a commodity or natural resource becomes scarce, there are basically four ways to deal with it:
- Learn to get by with less of it [today’s “plan”]
- Raise the price to discourage over-use or waste [today’s “alternate plan”]
- Move somewhere else where they don’t have the problem [not likely to be an acceptable solution for most of us who LIKE it here!]
- Find more of it. [of which nobody speaks.]
Whether Solution Number Four involves desalination plants, interstate pipelines or cisterns in everyone’s back yard, it appalls me that the N&O and all of the other media outlets in this area seem to have given NO “air time” to any solutions other than the first three [actually, the first two.So, what’s wrong and why not? Enjoy http://www.plusaf.com/bluntconsulting/aquariusproject.htm for your consideration and amusement.
plusaf
Northwest Raleigh
27613
Desaltinazation Plants
I was wondering if anyone has given any thought to developing Desaltinazation plants to recover good water from the ocean. Surely there is enought ocean water for everyone forever. I know there are these plants in various parts of the world and they supply all the needed water for the areas they serve. We should start now building for at least the future needs if not the present.