Junction City is asking residents to cut back on water usage after a continuous increase in water over the last week.

The city said in a release Friday that the voluntary use restrictions are effective immediately because recent usage has exceeded the limits set by the city’s conservation plan.

The city’s asking residents to wash full loads of laundry rather than partial loads, keep faucets from running unnecessarily, look for leaks and curtail lawn watering.

The city says the voluntary restrictions are intended to heighten public awareness, maintain the integrity of the water supply system and delay or avoid implementing mandatory restrictions.

Junction City has about 24,000 resident and is located in northeast Kansas.