Tampa Bay's Extreme Water Shortage: Conserve Now

0:00This is Tampa Bay News today, every story, every city, every day. The Tampa Bay area is dealing with one of its worst water shortages in decades, thanks to a brutal drought. Tampa Bay water, the main supplier for the region, just declared a stage 3 extreme regional supply shortage. River flows have dropped so low they're creating a deficit of more than 10 million gallons per day and nearly half the area's drinking water usually. Residents from those rivers which are now off limits. With rivers out of the picture, officials are leaning hard on stored water in the regional reservoir. This hits at a bad time, as the area heads into March, April and May it's driest and hottest months when water use spikes. Experts call it the toughest drought in the last 50 years. Residents are being urged to step up with simple conservation steps to ease the pressure. That means shorter showers, turning off the tap while brushing teeth, fixing leaks, and sticking to approved watering days for lawns.

1:00Officials stress these efforts help not just people, but the environment too. Right now, one day a week watering restrictions are in place across the region. No one expects the taps to run dry, but summer rains are needed to refill rivers and reservoirs. If things get worse, stricter rules could kick in, like limiting outdoor watering to hand-held hoses only. Meanwhile, everyone's asked to do their part until relief arrives. The Daily News Now is made possible with support from our sponsor. Do not just listen to podcasts, get lost in them comfortably, solypilo.com.