“It’s free water.  Every gallon you use (from the rain barrel instead of the faucet) is a gallon less you’re bill for,” Conover Environmental Conservationist Terry Lail said.

Conover sold 20 rain barrels by Thursday and they come with all the fixtures required to hook them up.

“The drought is not over,” Conover City Manager Donald Duncan said.  “It takes longer to get out of trouble than it does to get into it.”

The Catawba River system that supplies water for all of Catawba County continues to be in Stage 3 drought and water restrictions are still in place.

In all the Catawba County municipalities except Newton residents are not allowed to use city water for watering their lawns.  However, the current restrictions do not prevent people from watering their shrubs, bushes and flowers, as long as it’s done by hand with a watering can or a spring-loaded nozzle on a hose.  The watering is also only allowed between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.

Residents also are allowed to fill their swimming pools, although, there are additional requirements that must be met. For instance, the pools must be covered with a solar blanket when not in use to prevent water evaporation and are required to provide an inspection report for the pool detailing any leaks or repairs.  Meanwhile, ornamental fountains must be turned off unless they support existing aquatic life.

Since the drought began last summer, the drought has continually gotten worse.  The region is still 18 inches of rain behind from where it should be and the recent rainfall has done very little to help it, Duncan said.  He said this is because we’ll get a few inches of rain and then it will evaporate, so it creates a constant situation of pluses and minuses.  It’s for that reason that every time the area gets an inch of rain, we can’t knock that off the 18 inches and say we’re coming out of drought, he explained.

“When you’re in double-digit deficits, you’re in real trouble,” Duncan said.

 Conover is taking it’s own steps to utilize the rain barrels as well.  Conover Public Works Director Jimmy Clark said the city will be adding rain barrels at its Public Works Department as well as the wastewater treatment facility.  He said there has also been discussion of creating a holding tank for the unused rainwater so the city can start building up a supply to have on hand.

“We are not managing water resources all around effectively,” Duncan said.

So far, Conover’s 5,742 water users have reduced their water consumption by 20 percent between September and December of 2007.  The reduction has cost the city about $50,000 in water and sewer revenues, but city officials planned ahead in budgeting to reduce the amount of impact it would have.

“People see the lake levels are up and it’s really easy for them to say there’s no more need for conservation,” Clark said.

However, he said people don’t understand that just because it’s raining, doesn’t mean the area is suddenly out of drought.  Duncan said the underground water tables are low and wells are more at risk for trying up, according to data he obtained from the United States Geological Survey.

As this drought continues, he said the community is going to have to learn to do more with less. In the future, he said that will include not just water, but electricity and fuel will become a priority to conserve as well.

He said conservation remains a key to protecting the county’s water resources.

“Conservation kept us from going into Stage 4 — that doesn’t mean it won’t happen (in the future),” Duncan said.