Bob Orr said the state wasn't ready for the drought.

"The biggest failure in the current administration was there was no, that I could perceive, any real planning plan to deal with an upcoming drought," said Orr, a former Supreme Court justice running for governor as a Republican.

Orr said the state is facing incredible growth and the next governor has to make serious changes to ensure there is enough water to fill the state's needs. Orr suggested creating regional commissions based on the state's water basins. Those commissions would help develop policy for the future.

Orr said the state could help reduce demand by changing water pricing structures and being more careful about economic development efforts. As he often does, Orr cited the Google server farm in Caldwell County that will use large amounts of water to cool equipment.

Orr said the state has a role in helping water systems get connected to each other. The governor has a role in urging water systems, counties, cities and towns to overcome their self-interests to make decisions that are good for the state.

Richard Moore took a shot at Beverly Perdue from the forum stage.

In his closing statement, he said voters deserve to hear both candidates debate and was disappointed that the water forum organizers chose to change the event format so the Democrats wouldn't appear on stage together.

Moore said this was done to accommodate Perdue. That's not true, said Tim Lucas, a spokesman for Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

The event was never intended to be a debate, but a forum where candidates could talk water policy with moderator Timothy Profeta, director of the institute. The original letter inviting the candidates did state the candidates would appear on stage and would have a chance to make an opening statement, answer Profeta's questions and give a closing. It did not mention exchanges between candidates.

Lucas said that the organizers decided to have candidates appear one at a time for practical reasons, including the time alloted for the event and the size and layout of the theater.

Perdue said she was not aware of anyone from her campaign asking for changes in the format. She said Tuesday that she and Moore have participated in four televised debates and have an online debate scheduled for next week.

"I continue to wonder what the Treasurer is whining about," Perdue said.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue just bought a new, energy efficient washing machine. She would have bought it sooner if the state had offered a tax rebate or tax-free day for energy efficient appliances.

Perdue, a Democrat, is pitching a sales tax holiday for products that use less water. As governor, she would also help local governments find ways to be water efficient and she would push for tiered pricing.

If she were elected, one of the first things she would do is take stock of how well water systems are interconnected.

She would also push to make water bills more transparent and easy to read so customers know how much water they are using and whether they are using more or less from month to month.

To encourage all users to be efficient, Perdue would push for tiered pricing, but she would also find incentives for large customers who are having success with conservation.

To get customers to use less water, Perdue said she would support a paid media campaign.

And for the record, Perdue said she bought a hybrid car, too.

Treasurer Richard Moore said water systems have a financial incentive not to conserve too much.

Sales — the water customers pay for — keeps water systems running and that means systems such as Raleigh don't want to save too much water.

"We are going to have to develop ways to allow providers to decouple revenue from sales volume," Moore said.

Moore said the drought is an emergency on the scale of a major hurricane. He reminded the forum audience, several times, that he was head of the state department of Crime Control and Public Safety during Hurricane Floyd.

Treasurer Richard Moore couldn't help but take a dig at his rival before his appearance at a water forum.

Moore has been a fequent critic of Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's refusal to participate in more debates in the Democratic race for governor. She has said there isn't enough time in her schedule to do more debates.

The organizers of the forum decided to have each candidate appear on stage with a moderator. Moore plans to stay after his turn. Perdue is scheduled to appear next.

"In about an hour, both of us will be in the same place at the same time and could have done this side by side," Moore told reporters before he went on stage.

Mike Munger says the drought comes at a time when it's not too late to do something about the future.

The Libertarian candidate for governor said at a forum on water today that the state still has time to make changes.

"We may be lucky in a way to have this drought situation at at tiem when our population is still small enough to still respond to it," Munger said. "I'm hoping we can use the drought as a contet in which we can say right now we need to begin working on long-term and short-term solutions."

Munger said as governor he would give cities and towns and water systems political cover to establish tiered water rates, which would then force water users to cut back on consumption.

Munger said he would also advocate taking a third of the money from the state's highway trust fund and spend that money on improving the water infrastructure. The result would be that the state could build fewer roads, which would restrain growth.

That, Munger said, would mean fewer new homes which would reduce demand on the state's water resources.

At a forum today, four candidates for governor are scheduled to talk water and the environment.

The event, "The Future of the Water in North Carolina" is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at the Griffith Film Theater in the Bryan Student Center on Duke’s main campus.

Candidates were given questions about water and the drought in advance and they will have about 40 minutes to talk and answer the questions. The candidates will appear one at a time and there will be no back-and-forth, something the event organizers wanted to do to allow more time to talk issues and because of some logistical concerns (the theater has no backstage, for example).

Libertarian Mike Munger is up first. State Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue — both Democrats — are next. Republican Bob Orr is last.

Dome is planning to cover the event live.