CHAMPAIGN – Lake Springfield is 2 feet below full right now, something that happens every year – but not usually until late fall.

The drought and heat withering crops and drying up waterways across more than half of the country has lowered the level of the lake Illinois’ capital uses for water enough that the city is considering water restrictions for the first time since 1988.

A dozen or more other Illinois cities, from Decatur to Rockford, have either enacted restrictions or asked water users to voluntarily cut back before they face limits.