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<br />(inches above f+1 or below f-1 normall <br />RDU <br />-1.15" since September 1, 2007 <br />-6.75" since January 1, 2007 <br />Piedmont-Triad <br />-0.64" since September 1, 2007 <br />-10.24" since January 1, 2007 <br />Miscellaneous notes <br />1. Please note that the rainfall deficits noted above show only deficits from January 2007, and do <br />not reflect deficits that remained at the end of preceding years. USGS ground water specialists <br />and hydrogeologists speculated at a meeting last week that North Carolina as a whale needs <br />30 to 40" of rainfall by April 2008 to break the drought. <br />2. The NC Drought Management Advisory Council drought map, updated November 6, 2007, <br />shows that the southern half of Orange County is within the area characterized as experiencing <br />"extreme drought" {the second-mast severe drought classification used), while the northern <br />portion of the County is classified as experiencing "severe draught" {the third-most severe <br />drought classification used}. <br />3. Given that: 1) Orange Alamance's withdrawals are now averaging well below historical levels <br />(approximately 130,000 gallons per day}; 2} Piedmont Minerals withdrawals are but a tiny <br />fraction of its historical levels of withdrawal; and 3} Hillsborough has been releasing well above <br />its minimum required release, the water level at Lake Orange -though quite low - is well above <br />what might be expected with the current drought situation. <br />