NORMANDY, Tenn. -- A major shortage at a midstate river has communities fearing that they will run out of water by the end of the year.

Video: Drought Puts Water Supply In Doubt

Normandy Lake is 16 feet below normal and has forced several towns to consider water restrictions to save the water they have.

Jesse Mangrum has been camping out there for more than 30 years, and said he knows the levels are not normal.

"It's awful low. It's about the lowest it's ever been,” he said.

The low levels are a problem because the lake is the main water supply for Columbia, Shelbyville and Tullahoma among other towns, and, if this doesn't get any better, it's going to get a lot worse for water customers.

"We've got about 60 percent of our water supply left in that reservoir,” said Doug Murphy of the Duck River Agency.

That's why all of the cities that depend on the Normandy Dam for water are hoping that the state will allow the Tennessee Valley Authority to stop releasing so much water from the reservoir.

"The water is draining out of Normandy at an accelerated rate and we're beginning to get concerned that we won't have water past January, February, whatever,” said Jim Clark of Columbia Water and Power Systems.

If the Normandy Dam area doesn't get 3 inches of rain every month, Tullahoma and Manchester could be out of water by the end of the year.

Cities are also trying to do their part to conserve.

“It's not getting any better, so we're asking our customers to cut back on their water 10 to 15 percent,” Clark said.

When Mangrum isn't fishing at the lake, he said he's using the water as a Tullahoma resident.

In all, the situation affects a quarter of a million people.

All of the local water companies met earlier Wednesday to come up with a worst-case scenario plan.

They said this is a long-term problem and that it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Tullahoma, Manchester and Columbia all have voluntary water restrictions in place.

Clark said if the Normandy area doesn't get any rain in the coming weeks, severe mandatory restrictions could come in a month or two.