Raleigh grants manager authority to trigger Stage 2 water restrictions amid exceptional drought

Raleigh grants manager authority to trigger Stage 2 water restrictions amid exceptional droughtWith water demand surging and the Falls Lake supply dropping, Raleigh Water is revising its Water Shortage Response Plan while pushing forward with design contracts to expand system capacity to 140 MGD.

City Council authorized code revisions allowing the City Manager to enact Stage 2 water restrictions before the standard 45% reservoir trigger is reached.

Average water demand in June 2026 rose 8% year-on-year to 67.5 MGD, driven heavily by a 46% non-compliance rate among irrigation-only accounts.

CDM Smith secured a $2.63 million contract amendment for 30% design of the Chemical Campus Expansion at the E.M. Johnson WTP to support a 120 MGD capacity.

Hazen and Sawyer was awarded a $1.81 million contract to design the D.E. Benton WTP Dual Media and Filter Expansion, increasing firm capacity to 20 MGD.

The Raleigh City Council has unanimously approved revisions to the city's Water Shortage Response Plan, granting the City Manager the authority to enact Stage 2 water use restrictions ahead of standard reservoir triggers to combat an exceptional drought. During a July 7 meeting, Raleigh Water staff detailed a severe depletion of the Falls Lake watershed, the city's primary drinking water supply. The water supply pool has fallen to 62%, a highly unusual drop for early summer. Despite entering Stage 1 restrictions in April 2026, utility data shows demand trending in the wrong direction. Average water demand in June 2026 reached 67.5 million gallons per day (MGD), an 8% increase over the previous year, driven largely by residential irrigation. Ed Buchan of Raleigh Water reported that peak demand days hit 76.5 MGD, well above the utility's target of 60 MGD. Real-time data from irrigation-only meters revealed non-compliance rates between 43% and 46% over recent weeks. Historically, the city's code required the Falls Lake supply pool to drop to 45% before Stage 2 restrictions could be triggered in July. The newly approved code revisions provide the City Manager with the flexibility to escalate restrictions if overall demand fails to decrease. The update also tightens Stage 2 rules to limit athletic field irrigation to one day per week. While grappling with immediate supply constraints, Raleigh is simultaneously advancing major capital projects to secure long-term treatment capacity. Through its consent agenda, the council approved two significant engineering contracts for water treatment plant (WTP) expansions. CDM Smith was awarded a $2.63 million contract amendment to continue 30% design services for the Chemical Campus Expansion at the E.M. Johnson WTP, a project that supports expanding the facility's capacity to 120 MGD. Additionally, the council approved a $1.81 million contract with Hazen and Sawyer for detailed design, permitting, and bid phase services for the D.E. Benton WTP Dual Media and Filter Expansion. The project will add two new biologically activated filters (BAF) and two dual media filters to increase the plant's firm filtration capacity to 20 MGD. To fund the higher-than-anticipated design costs for the Benton expansion, the council authorized a $616,000 budget transfer from the E.M. Johnson West Reservoir Rehabilitation Project, which recently realized construction cost savings.