U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

News Release

Date:  June 7, 2007
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Record Low Water Levels in May for North Carolina Rivers
Editors Note: Maps and graphs illustrating this information on the North
Carolina Drought website.  
Despite some rainfall at the end of the month, streamflows during May in
North Carolina were at or near record low levels, particularly in the
western part of the state.  
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring and recording
streamflow for more than 100 years at many locations throughout North
Carolina, including the French Broad River at Asheville, which has been
continuously monitored since 1895.  Streamflows at this location in May
were at or below the streamflow recorded on the same date in 2002,
during the most recent severe drought.
The lowest May streamflow on record was set at 3 monitoring stations
with at least 30 years of record in North Carolina, with many other
rivers approaching record lows. The monthly mean flow at the French
Broad River at Rosman was 103 cubic feet per second, compared to a
previous low of 110 cfs.
Groundwater levels also are declining across North Carolina, although
the effects depend on the type of rock or sediment of specific aquifers.
Water-levels in the monitoring wells in Cherokee and Swain Counties are
at an all-time low for May.  Ground-water levels in the eastern part of
the State are only slightly below normal.
Conditions across the state range from "abnormally dry" in northeastern
North Carolina to "extreme drought" in the southwestern mountains of the
state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  
Normally the lowest streamflows of the year occur in late summer, when
water use demands are highest, and in the fall. If below average
rainfall continues through the summer and fall, new record low flows are
likely to occur in many of North Carolina's rivers.
It is difficult to compare previous droughts with the ongoing drought
while it is developing. During the previous century, hydrologic droughts
have affected large portions of North Carolina many times, with the most
recent event from 1999-2002.  The Drought of 1998-2002 in North Carolina
- Precipitation and Hydrologic Conditions documents that drought.  
The USGS and its federal, state, and local cooperators maintain 270
streamgaging stations and 39 monitoring wells throughout North Carolina.

Real-time river and ground water levels are available online.