Despite the controversy and the brown lawns around town, six out of 10 El Pasoans support the Stage 2 drought restrictions on water use imposed April 1, according to an El Paso Times/KVIA-ABC 7 Poll.

That news came as a pleasant surprise to Karol Parker, spokeswoman for El Paso Water Utilities, who said most of the calls she has gotten this month have come from unhappy customers.

"I'm pleased to learn that El Pasoans understand the seriousness of the situation and are supporting us in the effort to ration our water," she said. "The latest figures we have show that for the first 20 days of the restrictions, water use was down 24 percent from the same period last year. We hope this support holds through May as the temperatures get warmer."

By limiting lawn watering to two hours, one day a week and imposing other restrictions, City Hall and! the utility hoped for a 25 percent reduction in water co! nsumption. Officials plan to lift the Stage 2 restrictions June 1.

That won't be soon enough for Northeast homeowner Dana Davis, who doesn't believe anything the city has said about the river drought.

"I just believe they're full of it," she said of city officials. "I think the water and the money they're saving are going to that desalination plant."

She was surprised that the poll showed 61 percent of the 306 registered voters queried by K Associates during the week of April 14-18 supported the city's policies while 36 percent opposed it. The margin of error is 6 percentage points.

"I just feel that people are absolutely naive and gullible about the situation," Davis said.

Sergio Guerrero, a policy analyst who lives in Central El Paso, said the drought restrictions are a lesson in sustainability. "We can't sustain big lawns and continued sprawl."