New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala on Monday clarified why officials declared a “drought watch” over the weekend, urging residents to conserve water amid an unusually dry fall.

“Every day at DEP, no matter what the weather is, we are paying close attention to the amount of water that's in our reservoirs, where that compares to the historical averages and the short- and medium-term forecasts,” Aggarwala said in an interview Monday on “Mornings On 1.”

He noted that in recent months, rainfall has been low, with reservoir levels now under two-thirds capacity. The last significant rain recorded in Central Park was on Sept. 29, which failed to reach an inch.

“It’s not a crisis, yet. Nobody needs to panic,” Aggarwala said. “But you know, we're pretty conservative when it comes to looking ahead, and it's far better to start now to sound the alarm.”

The declaration comes after the DEP saw a deficit of nearly six inches in expected rainfall over the past two months. Aggarwala stressed that consistent rain—especially upstate in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, where the city’s reservoir system is located —is now needed to restore water supplies.

“One or two days of rain doesn't necessarily take us out of a drought. We need real rain,” he said.

For now, the drought watch, which is the lowest level of alert, only calls for voluntary water conservation.

“Only in an emergency, are there mandatory impacts on the public,” Aggarwala said, noting that more stringent restrictions could be applied to city agencies and large entities like the MTA if conditions worsen to a “drought warning.”

New York City last saw a drought in 2001–2002, and Aggarwala stressed the situation could change quickly.

“We were in a watch—where we are right now—only for about a month,” he said. “We were then in a warning for several months, and then in the spring, we went into an emergency. And we were in an emergency for about six months.”