More water ... for now

Last weekend's rainfall increased water levels at the two main storage facilities in the Corporate Area by 10 per cent, allowing the National Water Commission (NWC) to ease restrictions for now.

NWC's Public Relations Manager, Charles Buchanan, cautioned that the easing of restrictions "will continue as long as we can" but will be subjected to "continuous monitoring and assessment".

"A one-off rain event does not reverse the negative effects of below-normal rainfall," he said.

"Considering that we are coming from very low levels, 10 per cent is good, but does not put you in an excellent position," he added.

The easing of restrictions will see customers getting piped water for longer hours, among other things.

Before the weekend rainfall, the Hermitage Dam was at 35 per cent of its 809-million-gallon capacity, while the Mona Reservoir was at 22 per cent of its 393-million-gallon capacity.

In addition, the NWC reported that 80 of the island's 460 water catchment facilities were at dangerously low levels.

With the rainfall, Buchanan said most of these facilities had improved by up to 10 per cent, but pointed out that it was way too early to say the country was past the worst drought it had seen in the past 20 years.