It seems odd that a drought could affect the lives of so many people living so far from the land. A hundred years ago a drought would have meant failed crops, sick or dying livestock and hardship for everyone. These days we depend less on the weather to meet our immediate needs but we still suffer the effect of long-term wet and dry seasons. Even as floodwaters inundate parts of the Midwest drought continues to be a concern throughout the southeast and southwest.

In my area water restrictions are the norm and have been in effect since mid 2007. Based upon the soil moisture rating of the Palmer drought severity index our county needs 18 to 26 inches of rain to recover from this prolonged dry spell. Historically speaking this drought is the worst anyone can remember. While perusing the records from years past I found a regional dry spell in 2002 that was "as bad as the 1941 drought". That was over 65 years ago and this drought surely exceeds the prior period in magnitude.

Though we can only measure the current drought once it is over, I have a gut feeling that it will be the worst in over a hundred years, at least until the next one hits. Looking at the data from the past 10 years reveals a trend of alternate wet and dry seasons in North America. If global climate change has any effect on this cycle it will likely make it more extreme. Ultimately such a shift could render some parts of the country inhospitable over the long term.

It may seem like a knee-jerk reaction but truth be told many areas are dangerously close to expanding beyond the capacity of the local resources. In the Charlotte area local leaders have put a moratorium on further development for six months so that Union county can better deal with the demand for water and sewer service. In Cabarrus county local officials had to work a deal to transfer water to meet Kannapolis's growing need. The regional growth and demand for resources is only exacerbated by the ongoing drought, which is drying out much of the region.

The bottom line is that while we cannot control the weather we can control urban expansion. Though development in the Charlotte metro region isn't constricted by geographic features it is contained by local resources and we need to do a better job of adequately planning for a sustainable future. Failure to do so will inevitable mean more severe water shortages during the next prolonged drought.

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