Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, is still reeling from its worst drought in more than 80 years halfway through the wet season, with below average rainfall totals doing little to ease the dire state of the city's reservoirs.

Government officials and residents alike invested much hope in a boisterous wet season to help pull the area out of drought.

So bad is the drought, that back in October, Vincente Andreu, president of Brazil's National Water Agency, “If it doesn’t rain, we run the risk that the region will have a collapse like we’ve never seen before."

And it has rained during the wet season (December through February) but at levels well below average. for the month. Typically, the city averages 8.46 inches of rain through the same time period.

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That means the city is well off pace for an average rainy January (13.76 inches), in which Sao Paulo only received 5.93 inches of rain, well short of the monthly average of 11.06 inches.

A drier wet season has done little to replenish Sao Paulo's six reservoirs.

Back in October, water levels in the largest of the city's reservoirs, the Cantareira reservoir,Now, more than halfway through the wet season, water levels at Cantareira , the Associated Press reports.

A similar fate has befallen other reservoirs across the area, like Alto Tiete (11 percent of capacity, up from 8.5 percent in October), Rio Claro (25 percent of capacity) and Alto Cotia (30 percent of capacity).

Now, city officials are saying that desperate conservation measures must be undertaken to prevent catastrophic impacts from crippling the city in the coming months.

"The water supply situation is critical and could become even more critical if the lack of rain and hot weather continue and effective demand management techniques are not created," Mario Thadeu Leme de Barros, head of the University of Sao Paulo's hydraulic engineering and environmental department, told the Associated Press.

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Even though, as the Wall Street Journal reports, underway. As the paper notes, two-thirds of Brazil's power comes from hydroelectric power plants.

So, with water levels still sagging, widespread blackouts have hit Brazil's largest cities, including Sao Paulo. That could lead to increased energy rationing, which could stunt Brazil's economy.

Residents of Sao Paulo have already reported widespread water shortages since August, despite assurances by government officials that there would be no water rationing.

Even though water rationing is likely exactly what the city needs. Water rationing paired with lowering water pressure and repairing citywide water infrastructure could help ease the impacts of the drought, de Barros says.

"Sao Paulo's water situation is in the intensive care unit and the worse will only be avoided if these measures are adopted," de Barros told the Associated Press.

Though the obvious fix is one that no one can control: more rain.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: California Reservoirs Before and After Drought

The Green Bridge passes over full water levels at a section of Lake Oroville near the Bidwell Marina on July 20, 2011, in Oroville, California. (Paul Hames/California Department of Water Resources/Getty Images)