New York City has issued a drought watch after an unseasonably dry October.

"We're going to be asking New Yorkers to save water. This isn't about a little rain, we need actually 6 inches of rain to recover what we're missing," said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala.

A drought watch is the first level of the three tier Water Action Plan to conserve the city's water supply.

Officials say rain in October and November usually helps refill the reservoirs in upstate New York that provide the city's drinking water.

Right now, the reservoirs are down to 65.5% capacity, compared to 76.6% at this time.

"We've been very carefully monitoring the situation over the last 10 weeks, when the weather turned from an unusually wet August, into the second most severe dry spell that we've had," said Aggarwala.

October marked the second longest dry spell in city history dating back to 1869.

DEP says New Yorkers use an average of 1 billion gallons of water daily. If that could be cut down slightly, it could delay the activation of a drought warning, or Stage 3 an emergency, when water conservation rules would be mandated.

The last time the city had to activate the plan was in 2001 to 2003, when an emergency was in effect for six months.

During that time the Parks Department did not turn on water fountains, decorative fountains were dry, buildings were not allowed to water sidewalks and lawns and restaurants could not serve water unless a customer asked.

"I think we would likely be weeks, not months from a warning, so the city can lead by example, to push off mandatory restrictions," said Aggarwala.

To avoid getting to that point, the city is asking people to conserve their water usage.

How to Save Water:

Officials say a rainy November and December is necessary in order to restore the water levels to normal capacity.