Rains prompt officials to ease water restrictions

Spring rains have filled lakes and reservoirs across North Carolina, leading to a widespread easing of restrictions on water use. Raleigh lifted severe water-use restrictions and residents can now water lawns and plants for the first time in months. Charlotte lifted a complete ban on lawn watering. In Durham, the city's 2 primary reservoirs are full, so officials are allowing twice-weekly lawn and plant watering. In Asheville, citizens are under loose voluntary conservation, while officials in Greensboro are mulling whether to relax mandatory rules that allowed once-a-week watering for the past 7 months. Weather officials cautioned that it might be too soon to pull back on conservation efforts. "We came very close to being in very dire straits," Nat'l. Weather Service hydrologist Mike Moneypenny told The Charlotte Observer. "Hopefully, we learned some lessons from that. Conservation is not something we can just concentrate on when we're in trouble. It's a way to keep us from getting into trouble."