(Reuters) - The North West of England faces a possible hosepipe ban to conserve water supplies in the face of a drought.
Water company United Utilities will seek permission from the Environment Agency on Friday to draw more water from lakes and rivers.
Following the driest start to the year in the region since 1929, many reservoirs have fallen to below half their capacity.
A radio and newspaper campaign to use water wisely has been running throughout the region since last week.
"It's been an unprecedented period of dry weather since December 2009, and we need to take action now so we can tap into available water resources if the dry weather continues," said John Sanders, United Utilities' Water Regulation and Strategy Manager.
"We're monitoring the situation day by day but if we don't have any significant rainfall by the end of this month we will need a hosepipe ban to help conserve essential supplies," he added.
Last month, rainfall was just 38 percent of the long term average for the region.
Haweswater reservoir in Cumbria has fallen to 61 percent capacity, nearly 20 percent below normal for this time of year.
The firm will ask to increase the amount of water taken from Ennerdale reservoir in the Lake District to supply the Whitehaven area of West Cumbria.
