CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) — The St. Lucia Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) on Wednesday placed the entire island under a water emergency schedule as the drought worsened.

Initially, the emergency had been confined to the north of the island, but WASCO managing director Vincent Hippolyte said that there had not been sufficient rainfall to meet the demands of consumers.

“Despite the rains and the greenery, drought conditions exist because the rivers are not moving. They do not have the volume of water that will enable WASCO to extract sufficient water to meet demand. We are in the early stages in the drought situation. It is not as severe as the later stages, but we are still in drought conditions,” he said.

WASCO said that as a result, the island-wide water rationing programme would remained in effect and that communities would experience periodic water outages.

WASCO is urging consumers to conserve water amid suggestions by experts that the drought may continue until the end of August.

“The public is also reminded that the Water Emergencies Act enforces water conservation restrictions that limit lawn sprinkling, vehicle washing, golf course and park irrigation, and other nonessential uses,” it added.