The National Water Commission (NWC) has announced that the water restrictions, which began this week in the Corporate Area due to the drought affecting the island, have been extended to other parishes.

Last week, the NWC advised customers in Kingston and St. Andrew to store water, as the supply will be restricted effective this week due to reduced inflows to storage facilities.

In a statement yesterday, the NWC said the restrictions have been extended to St. Ann, St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas.

The NWC said the ongoing drought has reduced water supply at several facilities, including the Mona and Hope reservoirs, and has seen some systems operating at between 20 and 60 per cent of capacity.

In response, the NWC regulated supply schedules in some affected areas, facilitated the interconnection of some pipeline networks and provided trucked water deliveries.

Areas that will have restrictions include Content, Shaw Park, Breadnut Hill, Higgin Town, Seville and New Hope in St. Ann; Packi River, Turtle Crawl, Windsor Forest and Craig Mill in Portland, as well as Sand Hill, Hunts Town, Rock Spring and Annotto Bay in St. Mary.

Over in St. Thomas, the affected areas include Spring Gardens, Airy Castle, Needham Pen, Wilmington and Davis Mountain.

The Rose Hill, Craig Hill, Pulpa Spring, Rock Hall and Bucky Plain areas of St. Andrew will also be affected.

The NWC said it will continue to monitor the situation.