You know things are dry when you can actually see what's at the bottom of the reservoir!

In case you haven't heard or noticed, we're in a drought at the moment and, in the Corporate Area, we have problems with our major catchment areas; there's no water for them to catch! Likkle rain! Hermitage has very little water left, Mona is doing much better but, overall, the water situation across Jamaica has become worse day by day.

The situation is so bad the National Water Commission (NWC) has had to enforce restrictions on water usage. So, if you plan to give your driveway a nice wash, forget it, it haffi go stay dutty! And all those hot women who love to wash the car with the hose (while wearing skimpy clothing), that's not going to happen anymore. Well, the skimpy clothing can stay (provided they have the body to wear them). Guess I'm going to have to cancel that bikini car wash I was planning. Darn!

Punishment

My biggest concern though is the enforcement of the restrictions. Punishment can take the form of jail time! Are NWC workers going to ride/walk/drive around looking at how we use water? Can you imagine grandma watering her dandelions only for the water boys to drive up to the gate (no sirens blaring because they don't have any) and say "Stop, in the name of the (water) law". Might give the old girl a heart attack. Or, Junior and his friends playing water war and getting carted off to the local magistrate?

I wonder what the charges would say. Can you imagine being charged with 'improper cleansing of a driveway during a drought' or how about 'malicious use of a hose'? Would they stick 'em up with guns or NWC badges? Maybe both! What a stress! Hey, you know how the other prisoners in jails and prisons always ask the new guy what he's in for? What would be the reaction when he says, "Oh, I used water excessively during a drought"? Doesn't seem to carry the same gruffness as breaking and entering. Tun prison bud over wata!

The thing about Mother Nature is that while one side of the Earth is lacking something, another part has too much of it. In this case, parts of Taiwan are having too much rain. It is so bad over there that villages are being covered by landslides and a hotel even collapsed into the raging waters after its foundation was washed away. And India and Japan are worrying about tsunamis.

If the NWC could find a way to get half of that water over here, we woulda nice!

Wash me away at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com