With Moore County now officially out of drought conditions, the county is planning to ease water restrictions.

The county has been under mandatory water restrictions or Stage 2 since June.

Public Works Director Dennis Brobst said Friday that he intends to recommend to County Manager Cary McSwain that the county reduce its restrictions to voluntary, or Stage 1, as soon as the interconnection to the East Moore Water District is up and running -- which should happen this week.

It has been a rainy summer, but Moore County didn't officially lose drought status until it took the brunt of Tropical Storm Hanna Sept. 6. Hanna dumped more than six inches of rain on the county. The N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council released a report Thursday saying that Moore County was no longer in moderate drought.

Southern Pines and Carthage have both been under voluntary water restrictions. Both will remain so.

Southern Pines has been under voluntary restrictions since last year. Assistant Town Manager David White said Drowning Creek, the town's source of water, is running strong.

It's flowing at 457 cubic feet per second. The average is 111 cubic feet per second. The creek is at 5.33 feet deep. The average is 2.5 feet.

Even with that strength, White said that the town has no plans to drop voluntary restrictions.

"We evaluate our water resources every day," he said, "and try to make the best decisions."

Carthage Town Manager Carol Sparks said that voluntary restrictions are prudent in this day and age. Carthage gets its water from Nicks Creek.

"We're going to stay on voluntary restrictions," she said. "We've been on them since 2002 and haven't had a problem. Keep on saving."

Carthage residents have responded well to the voluntary measures, Sparks said. Prior to the restrictions, the average use was 300,000 gallons a day. Now it's 250,000, Sparks said.

Meanwhile, the town's population has increased by more than over 1,000 residents.

"They have [responded]," she said. "They have been wonderful."

County Works Director Brobst said that the new interconnection with East Moore will allow more water to be pumped to Pinehurst, up to a million gallons daily. The county owns the Pinehurst water system.

The connection is at McCaskill Road and U.S. 15-501 in Eastwood. About 1,000 feet of lines have to be pressure-tested.

East Moore buys water from Harnett County, which comes from the Cape Fear River. Talks are still going on about interconnections between Robbins and Montgomery county.

Contact Matthew Moriarty at 693-2479 or by e-mail at moriarty@thepilot.com.