State officials have notified 12 municipal water systems that their water shortage response plans are insufficient to respond to the worst levels of drought.

The state Division of Water Resources sent letters Friday to those 12 water systems to alert them to revise their plans and resubmit them to the state agency for approval. The 2008 drought law requires that if a system's plan for reducing water use is deemed inadequate, the system must implement the state's default water reduction measures within 10 days of an extreme drought declaration.

For now, no water systems in North Carolina are required to implement the state's water reduction measures because no part of North Carolina is experiencing extreme drought, the third worst level of the four-tiered drought categories.

The division sent the first 12 letters disapproving water shortage response plans to the following water systems: Biltmore Forest, Black Mountain, Brevard, Columbus, Hendersonville, Montreat, Polk County, Raleigh, Robbinsville, Tryon, Weaverville and Woodfin.

Also Friday, the division sent the first 11 letters approving water shortage response plans to the following water systems: Appalachian State University, Banner Elk, Belvedere, Cabarrus Woods, Carolina Trace, Connestee Falls, Fairfield Sapphire, The Harbour/The Point, Lamplighter South/Danby, Sugar Mountain and Whispering Pines. The 23 letters mailed Friday are the first batch of letters to be sent out; other water systems will be notified of the status of their water shortage response plans as the division completes its review of all submitted plans.

Recent rainfall has prevented North Carolina from a return to extreme drought. The most recent drought map, which was released Thursday, shows
12 counties in the second worst level, severe drought; 15 counties in moderate drought, which is one level better than severe drought; 45 counties that are abnormally dry and the remaining 28 counties experiencing normal conditions for this time of year.

The 2008 drought law was enacted during the state's worst drought on record to improve response to water emergencies. The parts of the law devoted to the water shortage response plans are aimed at protecting water supplies from running out during times of serious drought.

The Division of Water Resources' staff approve a water shortage response plan if the plan meets guidelines set out in the 2008 drought law. The guidelines require that each plan must have specific measurements or conditions that trigger water use reduction measures and a method for notifying water users when conservation measures go into effect. Plans also must identify tiered levels of response that correspond to drinking water shortages of increasing severity and outline enforcement measures to ensure compliance with water use restrictions.