CAMP FOSTER — Recent rains have helped ease fears of a water shortage on Okinawa, prefectural officials say.

Yoshiharu Yoneda, coordinator of the Water Supply Management Office at the Okinawa Prefectural Enterprise Bureau, said Friday that levels at the island’s major reservoirs have risen to a "safe zone" after heavy autumn rains.

Water levels at the 10 reservoirs were on average at 76.3 percent capacity.

"At nearly 80 percent capacity, it should be safe to discontinue the ongoing water saving campaign," Yoneda said.

In the last two weeks, more than 14.4 inches of rain soaked northern Okinawa, where most of the reservoirs are located, said a weather forecaster at the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory.

But the picture is not all rosy, meteorologist Kunio Uechi said. After October, Okinawa will enter its traditional dry season and no substantial rainfall is forecast.

Despite suspending the official campaign to save water, Yoneda urged people to continue water conservation efforts to protect the environment.

"Supplying water consumes an enormous amount of electric power, and as a result, emits massive amount of carbon dioxide," he said. "Please be eco-friendly and think how much energy was used every time when you turn on a faucet."