NC State University: News

Media Contact:
Ryan Boyles, 919/513-2816 or ryan_boyles@ncsu.edu
Joanna Reese, DENR, 919/715-7357
Sally Ramey, 919/513-0300 or sally_ramey@ncsu.edu

July 10, 2002

NC State University to Host Statewide Drought Conference

State and local authorities concerned with how North Carolina will weather its fourth summer of drought - and conditions that are in some areas the most severe in a century - have scheduled a statewide conference to discuss the drought and its ramifications.

North Carolina State University and the State Climate Office will host the N.C. Drought Monitoring Council's statewide conference for water system operators and the news media from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, July 12, in the Engineering Graduate Research Center (EGRC) conference room on NC State's Centennial Campus. Experts from the council will give an overview of statewide conditions and suggest ways for systems to combat the drought. Impacts on areas from agriculture to water quality will be examined.

Media coverage is invited. See the State Climate Office Web site at www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/ for a conference agenda and directions to the EGRC.

"Drought conditions are spotty by nature, but overall, this is quickly becoming the worst drought in recorded North Carolina history," said Ryan Boyles, associate state climatologist and the State Climate Office's representative on the Drought Monitoring Council. "In some areas, we haven't seen conditions like this in more than 100 years."

Late last month, the western Piedmont moved into the worst classification of drought, labeled "exceptional." The remaining part of central North Carolina is classified as "extreme," and most of the rest of the state is in the "severe" or "moderate" categories. All areas but the southwestern corner are in drought status.

Indicators of the drought's severity include:


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