The current drought has water levels across southwestern Connecticut so low that the Aquarion Water Company is taking drastic measures to keep taps flowing.

The Putnam Reservoir in Greenwich is only about a quarter full. To combat the drought, Aquarion has installed an emergency pipeline to keep water levels from dropping even lower.

The 1.5-mile pipeline, which was approved by state regulators on Tuesday, is designed to divert 1.5 million gallons of water a day to fast-depleting reservoirs in Stamford and Greenwich. It's transferring water from Aquarion's Bridgeport system, which is about 70 percent full.

The drought situation has become so dire that Aquarion has also been monitoring water use by individual customers.

Aquarion says people are conserving water, and that the Putnam Reservoir is higher than it was a few weeks ago.