SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Southwest Missouri is now designated as being in an extreme drought and Springfield City Utilities is offering an update on the city’s water supply.

The water supply is just more than 88%. That is slightly below the historical average of 89%, according to CU.

There are no water restrictions in place as of 11:00 a.m. Friday morning, but CU said water conservation is important and especially helpful during dry, hot weather like what the area has experienced over the month of July.

City Utilities has more information about water conservation on its water information web page.

There is an emergency water conservation plan in place for Springfield, meant to make sure everyone has enough drinking water if a drought or another emergency were to affect the supply significantly. The first stage of the plan would go into effect when the water supply sinks to 70%.

The first stage involves asking people to adhere to an odd-even watering schedule and requesting that citizens limit water use for non-essential purposes.

Earlier in July, Ozarks First talked to City Utilities about another issue of concern this summer: the extreme heat. CU said in early July energy use was well below capacity, but asked people to be mindful of their energy use as extreme heat continues.

Parts of our viewing area are expected to see rain over the weekend before heat returns for the first week of August, bringing high temperatures of close to 100 degrees by midweek.