Source: NCDENR, 4/3/14

WHAT N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council annual meeting
WHEN: 9-11 a.m. April 10
WHERE: Gov. James G. Martin Building, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, 1025 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh

The N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council will use its annual meeting on April 10 to discuss the dry conditions North Carolina is experiencing and expected impacts in the coming weeks.

Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties are currently experiencing abnormally dry conditions. Abnormally dry is not a drought category. Rather, it is a descriptor of less severe dry conditions, which still requires heightened awareness by water users in the affected counties. The last time any part of the state experienced drought conditions was nearly a year ago on April 23, 2013.

The council will discuss dry conditions in North Carolina as it relates to streams, rivers, lakes, agriculture and wildfire activity, and will also provide North Carolina’s short-term climate outlook.  The council is made up of experts on drought, climate, water and forest resources, geology, agriculture and water conservation.

This is the first in-person meeting for the council in 2014. The council is required by Session Law 2008-143 to meet at least once in each calendar year in order to maintain appropriate agency readiness and participation. A subgroup of the drought council conducts a conference call each week to discuss the impact of rainfall and provide recommendations for the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The U.S. Drought Monitor uses the council’s advice to generate a map depicting areas experiencing drought, abnormally dry and normal conditions. The drought map is released every Thursday and posted to the state’s official drought website at www.ncdrought.org.

If you have questions about the meeting, please contact Bob Stea, chairman of the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council, at 919-707-9035, or bob.stea@ncdenr.gov.