Caracas, Venezuela (CNN) -- Residents of the Venezuelan capital on Monday began to experience water rationing as part of a government preservation measure during a drought. The rolling cuts to water service will affect the capital of Caracas and some nearby areas for periods of up to 48 hours, the state-owned water utility Hidrocapital announced. The rationing will continue through the first quarter of 2010, the government said. President Hugo Chavez has urged citizens to take extra steps to reduce water use, including a suggestion last week that taking a shower should take only three minutes. The government says that weather phenomena are behind the drought, while critics of Chavez say that years of lack of infrastructure investment and planning left the country flat-footed when it came to offsetting the drought.
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Rolling cuts to water service will affect Caracas, nearby areas for up to 48 hours
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Drought conditions have reduced reservoir volume to critical levels, officials say
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Only hospitals will be equipped with water around the clock
Some water-rationing measures were taken at the time, too, according to @placeholder.