Residents in St. Stephen are being told to reduce their water usage until further notice.

Officials said ongoing drought conditions have led to a water shortage in the community.

“Utility staff have been carefully monitoring levels on an ongoing basis, hoping for significant rainfall which has not come and is not forecast,” said an alert issued to residents on Tuesday.

“We have crossed a threshold whereby staff are no longer comfortable with monitoring feedback.”

The municipality has taken its own steps, such as closing the splash pad and delaying water main flushing.

They are asking residents to reduce water usage where possible, such as not washing vehicles, watering lawns or filling pools.

“A water shortage can result in not having an adequate supply to fight fires and a reduction of water available for personal, household, business use,” said the alert.

Several municipalities throughout the province have issued similar alerts in recent weeks.

As of July 31, much of New Brunswick was considered “abnormally dry,” according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

The situation was worse in parts of southeastern New Brunswick, which were dealing with moderate to severe drought conditions.