RALEIGH -- With water sources across the state running dry, the State Water Infrastructure Commission is considering ways regionalization could help.

"We have the ability, now I believe, to step up and to influence some of the thinking around what happens going forward with regard to water management [and] water infrastructure," said Jean Crews-Klein, who is with the State Water Infrastructure Commission.

For more than one year, the group has looked at the pros and cons of regionalizing community water systems. Altogether, North Carolina has more than 500 publicly-run water systems, meaning they are run by cities, towns or counties.

The commission's primary conclusion is that the state should remove barriers to regional cooperation but only in places where it makes sense. The group says regional agreements will not necessarily work for communities separated by far distances.

"We really need to be looking at all possible things that we can do to encourage [regionalization] in the face of what we're facing now,” Crews-Klein explained.

Almost the entire state is facing a drought that keeps getting worse. Forecasting trends show it will not get better anytime soon.

"We've never seen the likes of it. A drought is always supposed to be a slow-moving creature, but not in this case," said Woody Yonts, who is with the North Carolina Division of Water Resources.

The State Water Infrastructure Commission says a sharing agreement would benefit communities during such a drought. One way is by allowing them to pull water from more than one source.

The Commission will present its findings to Gov. Mike Easley and the General Assembly next week.