Ongoing lack of rain in the Charlotte region prompted an Iredell County utility on Wednesday to urge customers to cut back on non-essential water use.

“The goal is to protect the water supply now in case drought conditions worsen,” according to an Iredell Water Corp. statement.

The membership-owned, non-profit utility provides public drinking water in 12 of the 16 townships in the county, outside areas served by Mooresville and Statesville.

“The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has designated Iredell County as an area of moderate drought, and the entire state is either designated as having abnormally dry, moderate drought, or severe drought intensity level,” according to the statement.

Rain prospects ‘do not look good’

The DEQ rates Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Gaston and Lincoln counties as abnormally dry, the lowest of five drought intensity ratings on the U.S Drought Monitor map. “Moderate drought” is the second-lowest rating on the map.

Little rain has fallen over the past six weeks, Iredell Water Corp. officials said. Combined with temperatures in the 90s the past few weeks, that’s led to “very dry conditions in our area,” according to the company statement, “and the prospects for rain in the near future do not look good.”

Customers are asked to reduce non-essential uses of water, including limiting at-home car washing and lawn and garden watering.

Ways to conserve water

Avoid letting faucets run while shaving or rinsing dishes and limit toilet flushing and use of washing machines and dishwashers, officials recommend.

Limit showers to 4 minutes and reduce the hours of running water-cooled air conditioners.

Iredell Water asks customers with irrigation systems to use the following schedule:

Odd-numbered street addresses, 8 p.m. Tuesday to 8 a.m. Wednesday, and 8 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday.

Even-numbered street and unnumbered addresses, 8 p.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Sunday to 8 a.m. Monday.

Residents, businesses and institutions should temporarily delay new landscape work until the water shortage has ended, according to Iredell Water.