Duke Energy Announces Stage 3 Drought Restrictions at Lake Norman

  LAKE NORMAN DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS AT STAGE 3

These restrictions are being implemented due to the major threat of drought for our drinking water and the running of the power plant facilities on the lake itself. Too bad the drizzle we got yesterday did NOTHING.

The steam station in Terrell uses the water to make steam to run the coal plant and the nuclear facility in Huntersville uses it to cool off the turbines. Duke Energy is hoping that residents will cut usage by 10-20% so that they will not have to go into panic mode. If this drought were to continue, then the plants might have to be shut down for some periods of time.

As the drought continues, I am hearing more and more about dangerous low spots on the lake for boaters as well. It would not make for a very fun outing if your motor were to run aground in the middle of the lake! Duke Energy is supposedly keeping Lake Norman as high as possible with dams for the Nuclear station to keep running, but that is keeping the river low in communities south of this lake.

With lake and river levels declining at such a high rate, the fish and ecosystem are slowing dying and the river water is slowly becoming unsafe with higher levels of toxins from waste water runoff. We can't forget that this lake was "man-made" for the purpose of running the power plants. However, Duke Energy stocks the lake with certain types of fish that keep the "bad algae" and other funky lake diseases at bay. But what types of things are happening in that water?

Recently,I met  a local man and his wife at "Egg at the Lake" breakfast place in Mooresville. He and his wife have lived here for 18 years and in his prior life, he had a job in Lake Norman where he came into contact with information dealing with the engineering of the wastewater runoff areas and economic development. They both told me, "DON'T GO INTO THE LAKE WITHOUT EAR PLUGS BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CAN GET".

Now that's a lovely thought for the day.

WE NEED RAIN!!! HOPEFULLY WE WILL GET SOME THIS WEEKEND (yay!) I have conflicting thoughts about this rain though, because I planned a trip to Scarowinds on Friday night with the family. I will let you know how that goes!

Sandy Aichner, Broker

RE/MAX AT THE LAKE

WWW.SANDYISYOURAGENT.COM