RALEIGH -- State water experts have launched a new plan to manage water in the Neuse River Basin. The North Carolina Division of Water Resources will rely on a new computer model that uses 50-year projections to figure out how current water use will impact the basin.

Day by day, the impact of the drought on Falls Lake is easier to see. State water experts say finding a solution is getting easier too thanks to the new computer model.

"Ultimately what this model is is a very sophisticated spreadsheet which ultimately balances where all the water comes in from and goes out,” said Dale Crisp, director of the Raleigh Public Utilities.

The new plan will help manage the Neuse River Basin, which stretches down to the coast and includes Falls Lake, Raleigh's main water supply.

"We need this rather complicated model because there's a lot of upstream and downstream interaction. We need to measure how much is put down, put back in the river,” said John Morris, director of the N.C. Division of Water Resources.

The model uses 50-year projections to figure out how current water use will impact the basin. Morris says it's one way to help communities avoid droughts like the one that has drained Falls Lake.

"The model will let any community in the basin test their plans for future water resources against their plans for any severe drought,” Morris said.

Crisp says eventually he would like to see the computer model offer daily updates on water use.

"Ultimately the goal might be to have it as real-time data so we're getting it updated on a daily basis.”

Experts say plans for the Neuse River Basin should be ready within the next two years. It will cost about $350,000, but the state will pick up most of the cost. Municipalities and regional water systems will share the rest.

Morris says the state uses a similar model for the Cape Fear River Basin and in the Catawba and Yadkin rivers basin.