The Dominican government put out weekend warnings across the country of a possible water shortage if the persistant dry period continues.  Pipes that normally pump circa 400 million gallons of daily water to approx three million people in Santo Domingo are already being closed for a couple of hours each day in a bid to reserve fleeting water supplies.  Water normally supplied by one of the country's main rivers has already dropped to 35 million gallons a day from 95 million gallons. Mariano German who is the director of the state utilities company will be keeping a close watch on the water situation and will inform the government accordingly if further closures are needed for other major regions.