Extremely high temperatures and the lack of rain have depleted water sources for much of the New York region. It's been so bad that residents in Rockland County are now facing water usage restrictions. But Italo Vacchio, superintendent of the Westbury Water and Fire District, said while drought conditions should inspire people to be more conscientious about water use, water conservation should be on people's minds year-round.

"The one thing people can do is continue to observe Nassau County water regulations," said Vacchio.

Since 1987, county residents have been restricted to watering their lawns between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on odd or even days depending on their address. The ordinance was passed to prevent people from sprinkling their lawns during the hottest hours of the day when much of the water is lost to evaporation anyway.

Vacchio, who has been with the Westbury Water District for 34 years and is a former chairman of the Long Island Water Conference, recommends homeowners water their lawns twice a week using about one inch of water. And while Westbury's water source in not in any immediate danger, Vacchio did cite an increase of 82 million gallons for June 1999 as compared to June 1998. Last June residents used 507 million gallons as opposed to this year's 589 million gallons. His educated guess on the cause for the increase is that people are simply turning on their hoses more this summer.

Since Westbury's water supply comes from deep wells and not surface water from reservoirs as in New York City, the local supply is well-protected. Still, he advises people to only turn on the dishwasher when it's full, do full loads of laundry, take shorter baths and showers, and of course, turn off that faucet when brushing your teeth. He added, however, that this advice holds true all year around, not just for dry summers.

Long Island Water Conference (LIWC) Chairman Paul Granger also urged people to keep water conservation in mind. Statistics from the National Climatic Data Center indicates that Long Island has been in a drought since June '98. With a dry June and July almost behind us, Granger recommends keeping water usage within reasonable limits. Tips suggested by the LIWC include, using a cover on swimming pools to reduce evaporation, keeping a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of letting water run in the sink to get cold water, and checking the automatic sprinkler heads to make sure they haven't shifted and are not sprinkling the side of the house or the sidewalk unnecessarily.