Despite heavy clouds and some rainy weather late yesterday, the Island still faces a severe drought coupled with heavy demand from users.

And a Weather Service spokeswoman has said the outlook "just doesn't look positive'' to get the six inches of rainfall required to get back to normal levels.

The situation is so dire, Minister of Works and Engineering Alex Scott yesterday issued an advisory to the public about record levels of water usage.

In fact, usage last month exceeded by 44 percent the amount of water used during the last major drought the Island faced in 1989.

During June 375,000 gallons of water a day was used by both residential and commercial consumers while only trace amounts of rain fell in both May and June.

Only 1.71 inches of rain fell during June. The norm for the month is three inches.

Apart from April, rainfall since January has been below normal each month.

In July .26 inches of rain fell, and in the 24-hours to mid afternoon yesterday, 0.15 inches fell.

Mr. Scott said that with no rain predicted for the near future, the water situation is reaching a critical point with heavy demand from residents, businesses, and hotels.

The demand is placing a huge strain on the underground natural water lenses.

Mr. Scott has asked the public to cut their daily usage of water and his Ministry has prepared a list of conservation suggestions.

He also explained that when water truckers say there is not a water shortage, they are referring to the flow of water rather than the quality of water coming from the various lenses.

"The fact that people are having to wait for up to seven days to receive water indicates the heavy demand,'' Mr. Scott said.

"We should all be doing whatever we can to conserve what we have now,'' he added. "Because even if we do get heavy rain in the next two weeks, we will still need to conserve for the future.'' Mr. Scott also warned of the possibility of reduced rainfall in the future because statistics show the Island is approaching the end of a 42-year cycle.

The conservation measures the Ministry suggests are: Using a basin for washing dishes and vegetables rather than just running water; keeping a bottle of drinking water in a refrigerator rather than running a tap.

Wash laundry when there is a full load and taking a quick shower and turning off water while soaping and shampooing; turning off the tap when brushing one's teeth.

Placing a brick inside the toilet cistern or adjusting the float to a lower level to reduce the quantity of water used to flush, and flushing only when necessary; using a bucket rather than a hose to wash cars; recycling waste water for flushing or watering plants.

The Ministry suggests checking all water fixtures and fittings for leaks and repairing them immediately, and checking water tanks regularly and ordering water long before running out.

WATER WAT