The cool, moist weather of late has reduced the need to water lawns — but don't think the change means Utah's five-year drought is over.

The weather change has been dramatic, if temporary. A good-sized storm dropped more than an inch of water in Salt Lake City just over a week ago. Then this past week another hit, raising the tally by 0.23 of an inch.

"We're having a wetter-than-average September so far," said Larry Dunn, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service forecast office on North Temple.

When the cold front swept through northern Utah at midweek, thermometers dipped into the chilly region of the upper 30s. The temperatures were "about 15 degrees below average," he said.

But the drought may not be over.

"For most people in Utah, the drought has to do with water supply," he said. For an end to the drought, reservoirs must be full or filling, and a good water supply has to be expected for agriculture.

Those things haven't happened, Dunn added. The irrigation season is ending or already over throughout Utah. "But we won't know about the drought until next spring," Dunn said.

The reason is that the yearly winter snowpack is the main renewal of Utah's water supply, and how the snowpack accumulates is a question for future months. Meanwhile, he added, "The long-term seasonal forecast for the winter is pretty much equal chances."

Could the snow accumulation go either way, heavier or skimpier than average? "Oh, absolutely," Dunn said.

The early fall-like weather prompted Larry Anderson, director of the Utah Division of Water Resources, to call for a reduction in the amount of water used on lawns.

"As the days grew shorter, we have less sunlight," Anderson told the Deseret Morning News. "It becomes cooler in the evenings, and we need to water our lawns substantially less today than we did a month ago."

For healthy lawns, watering is probably not necessary more than "at most once a week" in northern Utah, he said.

Many lawns are serviced by automatic sprinklers. Anderson advised owners to shut off the timers and turn the water on manually once a week.

By the first of October, if rain arrives and the weather stays cool, he said, "we may be able to shut the systems off completely."

Anderson congratulated Utahns for their efforts to conserve water. This is the third straight year that they managed to reduce water use throughout the state, with consumption down probably 15 to 20 percent over the period, he estimated.

"We do see a little more brown spots on lawns," Anderson said. "Some areas are not quite as lush as they were in the past."

According to the water resources director, it indicates "that the citizens understand that we are in a pretty significant drought, and we just need to conserve as much water as we can."

When the drought finally ends, as precedent says it must, does that mean Utahns can return to heavy water use?

No.

"We hope people conserve and use their water wisely whether there's a drought or a wet cycle," Anderson said.

Even when rain and snow are abundant, he added, Utahns shouldn't slip back into using more water. Anderson would like to see the state improve conservation.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com