TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The worst of the drought is already over thanks to the application of water conservation measures, Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said Tuesday (May 30).

At a meeting during the afternoon, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)’s drought response center decided to relax restrictions on water usage in several parts of the country, per CNA.

The Hsinchu and Miaoli areas in northwest Taiwan saw their status changed from a yellow alert, indicating a reduction in water pressure, and a green alert, a reminder of the state of the water supply, respectively. Both now have received a blue alert label, meaning the situation of the water supply was normal.

In south Taiwan, Kaohsiung and Tainan maintained an orange alert with a reduced water supply. However, the daily period of reduced water supply in the two cities was cut by two hours, with the measure only in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Before the MOEA meeting, Wang said that water from underground sources and from desalination plants had helped improve the situation in the south, CNA reported. The worst was over, the minister said, even though the plum rain period had been drier than usual during the past month, and Typhoon Mawar was expected to bring heavy rain mostly to the east and north, parts of the country less affected by drought.