JERSEY Water has lifted the island’s garden hose ban after a wet start to November helped rebuild supplies.
The company will also shut down the desalination plant, which has produced 497,539 million liters of water since it was commissioned in August.
But the company has warned there is a “real risk” of further restrictions next spring and summer if forecasts of a dry winter come true.
Although October was dry with just 76mm of rain (60% of the month’s average rainfall), November got off to an exceptionally wet start with 91mm in the first nine days (average for November is 115mm total ).
Recent heavy rainfall has caused reservoir levels to rise 7% in the past seven days alone.
Levels now stand at 72% full, above the ten-year average.
Helier Smith, Managing Director of Jersey Water, said: “I would like to thank all of our customers for their support and understanding since the water restrictions were introduced on August 26.
“The effect of the restrictions associated with the operation of the desalination plant allowed us to conserve water resources during an exceptionally dry period.
“Now is a good time to lift the restrictions as the effects of the garden hose ban are much lower during the winter due to less watering of the garden. However, we must remain mindful of the need to conserve water resources by not wasting water as our reservoir levels continue to recover.
“Current forecasts suggest that the winter will be drier than normal and groundwater sources will be depleted during the drought, there is a real risk of having to resort to further restrictions in the spring and summer if the resources do not fully recover or if there are new periods of hot or dry weather.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely over the coming months.”
