GRAHAM, N.C. — Worsening drought conditions across the Triad have led Graham Recreation & Parks to cancel its Slice of Summer festival, while multiple river-based businesses in the area report longer float times and financial strain tied to historically low water levels.
Graham Recreation & Parks announced it will not host Slice of Summer, a water-themed festival originally scheduled for Saturday, June 27, at Bill Cooke Park, citing ongoing drought conditions. The department said it plans to use the cancellation as an opportunity to gather community feedback for future years through an online survey, which will remain open through Friday, July 3. Participants will be entered into a drawing for prizes, including a $100 Food Lion gift card and two branded blankets, with winners announced the following week.
The cancellation comes as low river levels are also affecting recreational businesses in the region. MadTown Tubing in Rockingham County said in a social media post that falling water levels have slowed the current significantly, with float times from put-in to take-out stretching to six hours on a recent day. The company said it has adjusted its reservation time slots as a result and is urging customers to check its website for updates.
In Stokes County, the Dan River Company has sold off part of its rental fleet in an effort to keep the business operating amid the drought, according to the business’s post on Facebook.
The disruptions come as North Carolina experiences its worst drought since 2008. According to state drought tracking, 3% of North Carolina was within the most severe “exceptional” drought category as of June 11, including parts of southeastern Guilford, southern Alamance and most of Orange County — marking the first time Guilford and Alamance counties have reached that designation since 2008. More than a third of the state was under extreme drought, the second-worst classification, and 90% of North Carolina was under severe drought or worse.
The National Centers for Environmental Information says North Carolina would need 12 to 14 inches of rain statewide over the next month to fully ease the drought, or 22 to 26 inches over three months to erase it entirely, with the Triad needing slightly more than the statewide average in both cases. Forecasters put the odds of enough rain falling within a month at just 0.04%, and the odds over three months between roughly 0.7% and 1.8%.