State officials are taking steps to stay on top of the drought in North Carolina that's becoming more and more severe. The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council met July 21st in Williamston face-to-face in an acknowledgement of the severity of the issue. The focus of the meeting was mostly on the drought's impact on agriculture in the eastern part of the state. A recent federal map classified most of eastern North Carolina in the "severe" drought category. Ten counties in the southeast were listed in the "extreme" drought category. Spokeswoman for the State Division of Water Resources Sarah Young says the last time we saw extreme drought conditions was in December of 2008.
Sarah Young: "One of the things that is different when it comes to extreme drought is water systems do have to report their water use to the state on a weekly basis."
More than three-quarters of the state is under some level of drought.
Young: "Right now the impacts that we're experiencing are low stream flows, low ground water levels, below-normal soil moisture, and obviously agricultural impacts, especially in the eastern part of the state."
Conditions are dry but less severe in the Piedmont.
