(AP) — Nebraska villages and cities worried about their drought-depleted water supplies are being advised to make deals with irrigators.

Utilities section director Lash Chaffin with the League of Nebraska Municipalities made the suggestion Wednesday during a water law conference in Lincoln.

Chaffin says making deals to buy irrigation allotments is cheaper than digging new wells in the middle of the summer, when water demand is high.

Nebraska weathered a major drought last year, but more rain this year helped ease the situation in most of the state. The National Drought Mitigation Center says more than 94 percent of Nebraska was at least abnormally dry as of Tuesday. Five percent of the state remains in extreme drought.