Fay-INduced Rains Help, But Won't Ease Drought Status Much This Week

All that rain we've received from Tropical Depression Fay is helping river and lake levels in the area, at least in the short term. The Reddies River, which was down to 14 cubic feet per second over the dam at North WIlkesboro Monday, was gushing more than 2-thousand-300 cubic feet per second yesterday. North Wilkesboro officials say that doesn't mean the water restrictions are over, though. They want to see the river flow stabilize above 20 cubic feet per second before lifting the restrictions. An official told the Journal-Patriot they don't want to be dropping and re-instating the restrictions over and over, so as to avoid confusion and frustration for town residents and the water systems served by North Wilkesboro. However, at least for the time being the rainfall should avoid the need to purchase Wilkesboro water, a happening that had seemed more and more likely with each passing day until Fay came to the area.At W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir, water is flowing in at more than 2-thousand cubic feet per second. WIth the flood gates at the dam set to minimum flow of 127 cubic feet of water per second, the reservoir has risen to 2½ feet below normal. The reservoir should be at full pool or over by Friday.The best news of it all is that with several days of slow to moderate rain, the water has had a chance to soak into the parched ground, rather than running off and being lost as it would have if the five-plus inches had arrived in one day. New drought information from the federal government is due out later today, but the Fay-induced rains are not likely to affect the county's D-3 drought status, because the cutoff for rainfall reports each week is on Tuesday morning.