Over the past few weeks, officialdom's yapping about drought seems to have been overwhelmed by the pitter-patter of drenching rains.

You certainly can't blame political leaders and government workers whose job it is to plan for the worst. And, in many respects, the drought of 2007 was the worst.

Wait a minute, you may be saying, the drought of 2007? Isn't it the drought of 2007 and 2008?

Well, in some

By measuring rainfall over the past 365 days, North Carolina is still running a deficit and is still in a drought. Some water supply lakes, especially in the southern and northern Piedmont, are still below normal pool.

But talk to farmers, and they will tell you that the soil is plenty moist for planting. In some areas, it's too wet right now. And in significant portions of the state, stream flows are back at or above normal, according to gauges monitored by the state.

This La Nina winter, which was supposed to produce below-normal rainfall, hasn't materialized. On a statewide basis, even before this past weekend's rains, North Carolina was at 97 percent of normal rainfall since Dec. 16. Over the past month, the statewide average is 104 percent of normal, according to the state's own drought-monitoring data.

Also consider that Jordan Lake, which supplies water to the Raleigh suburbs of Cary and Apex, is four feet above normal right now. Drive by the lake, and you'll see shoreline bushes and trees flooded.

The point is, our remaining water-related problems are really water supply problems. And they stem, not from a lack of rainfall in 2008, but from those blistering, dry days back in May, June, July, August and September of last year.

Obviously, water supply lakes that remain below normal pool have to worry the people whose job it is to meet water demand. And after one dry summer that has left reservoirs playing catch-up this winter and spring, those officials rightly fear that a second-straight dry summer could really devastate water supplies.

Still, odds are it's going to continue to rain. Odds are the worst two years of drought going back 100 years won't come one on top of another. Odds are, based on normal rainfall, most all of the state's reservoirs will be back at or above normal pool by the end of May.

Again, it behooves political leaders and local government types to consider what happens if the odds don't play out. But it doesn't benefit anyone not to level with the public.

Hyping a drought that, at some point, will no longer exist only undermines efforts to focus the public's attention on water supply and conservation issues that will exist regardless of drought.

The 50-percent population growth predicted for North Carolina over the next 30 years can't happen without more efficient use of water. That -- not drought -- is what government ought to be talking about.

Scott Mooneyham writes for Capitol Press Association. Contact him at smooneyh@ncinsider.com