As drought conditions continue in North Carolina and the possibility for more water restrictions arises, Ed Buchan, a water conservation specialist for Raleigh’s Public Utilities Department, said there are no simple solutions yet.

“This is the most severe drought we’ve ever had,” Buchan said.

Current estimates state that Raleigh has 108 days of water left, but he said the estimate only holds true if we receive no rain during that time and the demand for water remains the same.

According to Buchan, this number is based on a 30-day demand average and the amount of rainfall, so any significant rain will raise it.

Last week, the city of Raleigh began pumping water from Lake Benton into the Neuse River to give a boost to Falls Lake, Raleigh’s source of drinking water, Buchan said.

“The water level fell to a record low this week,” Jack Colby, assistant vice chancellor for facilities operations, said.

Falls Lake is divided into four different pools, but Buchan said there are “no actual partitions between the different pools; it’s just on paper.”

Raleigh uses the water supply pool, and if it were to dry up, a water quality pool would be next.

“Even after the water supply pool and water quality pool [are depleted], we would still have the sedimentation pool,” he said.

This would leave an additional 36-foot-deep water source, if the 108 days situation became definite, he said.

The city is not allowing lawn irrigation, which Buchan said could lead to problems if the drought continues into the spring.

“The growing season could be affected,” he said, if city council members decide to keep irrigation restrictions throughout the year.