Gov. Mike Easley called on every resident of North Carolina to help save water during a drought he said is the worst in history in some areas.

Speaking Monday before the N.C. League of Municipalities in Fayetteville, Easley did not declare a state of emergency, but urged “unprecedented action” in the form of increased conservation. Easley said he did not want to use his emergency powers and chose instead to allow local leaders to deal with the problem.

“You know what exceptions have to be made to save businesses,” Easley told the gathering of about 1,000 mayors, council members and city managers.

He said he wants North Carolinians to do “everything they can to save every drop they can.” Individuals should try to save at least one gallon of water a day, he said, by:

– Not washing buildings.

– Not watering lawns.

– Disabling ornamental water fountains.

– Not washing cars.

“A dirty car is a sign of civic responsibility nowadays,” Easley said.

Easley also placed a ban on public burning.

“The last thing we need is a forest fire, because we don’t have the water to put it out,” he said.

Although he called the actions “unprecedented,” he said he has already asked state agencies to perform similar conservation efforts to reduce their water use by 20 percent. He said he is considering asking agencies to increase that conservation to 30 percent.

Such a request would be a “significant reduction” in campus water usage, according to Jack Colby, assistant vice chancellor for facilities operations.

Although he said the University’s conservation steps have reduced its water consumption by “well over 20 percent” compared to 2002 levels, he said the reduction Easley may request would be on a level similar to that of stage-two water restrictions.

After Easley’s address, Colby said the University will consider taking some of its conservations measures further. In particular, he said the University may completely eliminate car washes, which are now performed only at facilities that recycle 85 percent of their wash water.

The Raleigh City Council, which decided in May to enforce mandatory stage-one restrictions, is actually meeting today to decide whether to levy the tighter stage-two restrictions.

That may have a big impact on the University which, as one of Raleigh’s largest water consumers, uses 400 million gallons of water annually.

“Depending on the severity of the drought, we could be required to do any number of things that could impede on people’s normal routine,” Colby said. “I don’t think we want to rule out anything.”

He said that may even include a decision to stop watering athletic fields, which Colby said are receiving the minimum amount of water necessary to keep them safe and reduce the risk of injury.

But any conservation in the University’s water consumption will depend largely on students, faculty and staff, Colby said.

“Changing personal habits is a very big part,” Colby said. “We’ve got to get people thinking about making a personal commitment to reduce water consumption.”

Easley said 86 out of 100 counties in North Carolina are in the two most severe categories of drought. He said if residents of North Carolina don’t conserve water, the state may be without water in the spring.

According to Brandon Locklear, forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the appearance of La Ni-a, the cooler counterpart to El Ni-o, means precipitation will probably be less than normal over the winter.

“The chance of seeing a marked improvement in the winter from the exceptional drought we’re seeing is not very good,” Locklear said.

To improve drought conditions, Locklear said the state would have to receive 20 to 25 inches inches of rain over the next six months — 10 to 16 inches in the next three months alone. That’s slightly higher than the 10.5 to 12.5 inches forecasters consider to be the average winter precipitation.

Locklear said the state has about a 20 percent chance of getting that much rain and the impact of La Ni-a may reduce that percentage even further.