Seattle Public Utilities is asking more than 1 million people to voluntarily reduce their water consumption after a dry year. The request is voluntary, but next steps would include mandatory water reductions. Leaders hope people will do their part now to prevent the problem from escalating. According to Seattle Public Utilities, this has only happened six times before -- most recently in 2015. Typically, 26 inches of rain falls from May through September to help fill mountain reservoirs. This year, only about a quarter of that fell. There's no timeline for how long this request will last, but SPU says it would take months of good rain to catch up and the forecast isn't promising.