Mayor Doug Echols recently called a news conference to offer an impassioned plea to leave the restrictions in place as long as the Stage 3 drought lingered. The city had relaxed the rules by allowing residents to water lawns and other greenery once a week, and Echols said that was enough.

But last week the council ignored that warning and voted to allow people to wash cars and fill swimming pools once a week.

Echols was philosophical: "That's OK, I know there's pressure out there. We've just got to be careful. It is not something to be taken lightly."

We supported Echols' call to hold off on easing restrictions until the regional threat of a more severe water shortage diminishes. And we share the sentiment that we have to be careful.

Council members reason that easing restrictions -- even if it is just temporary -- allows people to tackle once-a-year projects such as filling pools in time for summer. Reservoir storage has recovered to above normal for this time of year, and water must be released from Lake Wylie. City leaders decided that customers should be able to take advantage of the water rather than sending it downstream.

We hope, however, that residents will continue to view the drought as a long-term problem. Permission to fill pools and wash cars is likely to be only temporary if we face dry days in the long summer months ahead.

Echols was able to convince the council to add a friendly amendment calling for better communication about the region's drought conditions. That should prove helpful in keeping residents apprised of the situation.

We hope the news will be good. But don't count on it.