ASHEBORO, N.C. -- Asheboro has now joined the long list of cities in North Carolina that have adopted mandatory water restrictions. City Manager John Ogburn put Level 2 restrictions into place Monday.

“We are 6.5 feet down at [Lake Lucas],” said Michael Rhoney, director of Asheboro's Water Resources, while standing on the lake's bank. At the beginning of the week, Lake Lucas and Lake Reese were down to a 110-day supply of water.

Considering that water supply has to be shared between Randleman and Seagrove as well, the same round of restrictions are on tap for everyone.

“It's just precautionary to ensure that we have available water for the very long term future,” added Rhoney.

Some of the new mandatory restrictions for consumers of the city water system include only watering your lawn between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and only with handheld containers. In addition, residential vehicle washing is strictly prohibited, and if you want to fill a 500 gallon swimming pool, a jacuzzi or a hot tub, you must have a permit.

You might notice a change when you go out to eat, as well. Restaurants will only serve you water if you ask for it.

Penalties are steep for homeowners caught violating the rules. A first time offense will incur homeowners a $100 fine, and second time offenders will be fined $200.

Asheboro's restrictions followed a statewide call from Gov. Mike Easley asking cities, towns and North Carolinians to cut the state's water usage in half between now and Halloween.

“Half. It means use half the water you normally would. If you usually take a 10-minute shower, take a 5-minute shower," Easley said at the time.

With an extended drought now and dreary forecasts for the future, water rationing may be something that we have to prepare for.

“Hopefully we won't get to that point, but if we don't get rain -- some significant rain between now and January -- we could be in a pretty bad situation by the spring. So I want to make sure we were conserving as much as we could in October," added Easley.

The city of Asheboro enacted Level 2 water restrictions when water levels were at 60 percent. Level 3 restrictions will go into place when levels drop to 40 percent.