DAMASCUS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Damascus is facing one of its most severe water crises in decades as the flow from the Syrian capital's main water source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring in the countryside west of the capital, dropped to its lowest level since 1958, an official said Monday.

According to Khaled Hassan, head of the Ain al-Fijeh Spring Station, water levels have fallen sharply due to an exceptionally dry winter, with the area receiving just 25 percent of its annual average rainfall, the lowest recorded in nearly seven decades, based on data from the Damascus and Rural Drinking Water Establishment.

"The spring is a surface source, and its flow is directly tied to rainfall and snowmelt," Hassan told Xinhua in an interview. "This year is particularly difficult. We didn't even have the usual seasonal floods from February to May, which typically sustain Damascus and provide overflow to the Barada River."

Currently, the spring's discharge is only two cubic meters per second, a fraction of the city's estimated need of eight cubic meters per second, according to Saeb Soufan, a mechanical technician at the station.

"Last year at this time, the spring was running at 10 cubic meters per second, with peaks reaching 20," he said Monday. "We used to have 24-hour flow, and now there is barely any," he noted.

To cope with the shortage, the government has activated backup wells and is implementing stricter water rationing.

Hassan noted that although the situation is under control for now, authorities will extend rationing hours through the summer to avoid supply breakdowns. "There is no thirst in Damascus yet," he said, "but the situation is fragile, and we hope it doesn't get worse." ■