The Army Reserve, reflecting similar efforts across the armed services, is taking several steps to avoid dire shortages, General Helmly said.

In particularly dry areas, towns, farmers and industries should begin conserving water now to avoid shortages this summer, Mr. Scaling said.

To avoid shortages of hit titles, stores should stock more copies.

To avoid shortages, he said, he has an arrangement with nearby restaurants to buy up their small bills at the end of each evening's business.

Shoppers are turned away, reinforcing their anxiety over supplies just when the Yeltsin Government is under pressure to avoid shortages.

The steps taken by the Iraqi military, like retreading truck tires, may be efforts to avoid shortages and not a reaction to them, he said.

Success in New York City and elsewhere would go a long way in avoiding future shortages.

In wartime, they declared, having a home industry was a necessity to avoid shortages.

John Shea, a spokesman for G.M., said that the auto maker maintains some flexibility to avoid shortages of parts.

As a result, the reservoir capacity needed to avoid shortages is substantially increased.