The recent sunny skies have been a pleasant change from what is normally a rather soggy time of year, but there has also been a cost: rainfall this year is down by nearly one-third and the city's reservoirs are at lower levels than usual.

As of 8 am Tuesday morning, Kunming's total rainfall this year was 588.8 millimeters, or only 70 percent of what it normally is by this time of year, according to a Kunming Daily report citing the city's flood and drought task force office.

Office director Wu Defang told reporters that the 15 reservoirs that provide Kunming's water supply were down 200 million cubic meters from their normal levels.

Wu said there was no reason to fear a drinking water shortage, stating that the Songhuaba and Yunlong reservoirs alone could supply Kunming with water until the next rainy season even if there was no more substantial rain for the rest of this year.

If the task force's predictions are accurate, there may be a resurgence of rain this month.

Task force staff are predicting 200-250 millimeters of rainfall in September and October, which would be slightly higher than normal levels for the two months. The office is predicting the end of the rainy season in the first half of October.

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