OK, let me see if I've got this straight: A month ago, Durham looked like one of those dry-mouth cartoon characters, crawling along the cracked bottom of Lake Michie, desperate for a drop to drink.

Then, miracle of miracles, that nasty drought that had kept city residents from watering their freshly sown lawns and washing their dusty cars was over. Gone. Kaput.

Abundant rain in late November and most of this month has pushed stream flows into Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir at or above average, pushing both from their lowest points this fall, city officials said in a news release.

So what does the city do? It "repeals" the more stringent -- and mandatory -- Stage III water- use restrictions, and instead reinstates voluntary Stage II regulations. In other words, go wash your car -- but don't do it too often.

I'm no water resources expert, but it seems to me the more prudent thing to do is to continue some form of the more-restrictive Stage III conservation measures (which saw water usage fall 13.5 percent) so Durham can be ready when the next drought comes.

Cary did that a few years back, and when the "D-word" again forced Durham and Raleigh this year to impose strict conservation measures, Cary was whistling all the way to the water fountain. I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to do that too.