the lake began to complain. When water levels plummeted to six feet above the "run of river" state (24 feet below normal), federal and state agencies closed the High Rock dam, forcing reservoirs like Badin Lake and Lake Tillery (who were at full pond status) to pick up the slack to maintain flows on the lower Yadkin/Pee Dee River. This allowed High Rock Lake to return to a level of below full pond before going down again. In the fall of 2002, the drought eased up and the Yadkin Valley experienced one of the wettest 15 months on record. By the end of 2003, water tables in the area were back to normal levels. 2007–2008 drought Until Hurricane Fay passed through the area in late August 2008, most of North Carolina was experiencing drought levels that ranged from Severe to Exceptional (the highest level), with rainfall averages below yearly average for the entire state, including the entire Yadkin-Pee Dee watershed. Alcoa was keeping water levels at slightly higher than historical levels for the same time of year for that reason, and possibly because their contract with the US government expired in April 2008 and was being renegotiated while Alcoa operated under a renewable one-year license. While the hurricane brought tremendous amounts of rain in a short period, filling all area lakes, it did little to replenish ground water levels, which create much of the runoff that continuously feeds streams and lakes statewide. Thirty days after receiving up to of rain, most of the state still remained in mild to moderate drought status, with exceptional drought conditions (the highest level) persisting in the southwestern section of the state. Because the 2002 drought was severe enough to not allow the launching of boats for fishing (or any other purpose), the number of fish that were killed off may have been proportional to the number that would have been caught and kept. The current number of fish in the lake appears to be close to normal. This is further demonstrated by the success of the May 2007 Bass Master's Tournament, and that there are no additional restrictions placed on the lake for fish size, excepting the longstanding restriction for crappie, which have a minimum size restriction of . Many of the images of fish kills show the primary victim fishes as carp, which are not highly prized in the area and have since