07/08/2026
Stage One Voluntary Water Conservation Measures are now in effect.
Stage One Voluntary Water Conservation Begins July 7
The City of Burlington will implement Stage One: Voluntary Water Conservation effective Tuesday, July 8, 2026.
While Burlington currently has sufficient water to meet community needs, we are asking residents and businesses to take proactive steps to conserve water due to current conditions affecting our water resources.
During Stage One, we encourage everyone to:
- Run dishwashers and washing machines only when full
- Limit lawn and landscape watering
- Reduce car washing
- Avoid washing driveways, sidewalks, and patios
- Repair leaks and practice everyday water-saving habits
So why are we here? The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council is a group of experts who monitor conditions across the state. They look at rainfall, stream levels, and weather patterns to determine how severe drought conditions are. When those conditions reach extreme levels, like they have now, they advise communities like ours to act. State law requires every public water system to have a Water Shortage Response Plan and to follow it during drought conditions. We are following that plan to protect our water supply for this community.
Burlington has a robust water supply and is better shape than a lot of municipalities right now. Textile manufacturing required massive amounts of water and the City built three reservoirs to meet that demand. Now that the local economy has evolved and there are significantly fewer textile mills, we have excess capacity. As a result, Burlington a regional water supplier and provides water to other municipalities including Elon, Whitsett, Gibsonville, Alamance, Ossipee, and Haw River. Water customers in those communities are also subject to the conservation measures.
Find out more here: https://nc-burlington3.civicplus.com/2956/Water-Status-Update