San Diego

A large hole in a 72-inch water pipe--the biggest kind used in the city--has led San Diego officials to caution residents of Kearny Mesa and Tierrasanta to stop watering their lawns, washing their cars or indulging in other nonessential water uses until the pipe is fixed, probably by the end of the week.

The four-foot hole in the steel and concrete pipe, which is in Shepherd’s Canyon--north of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Via Valarta--was discovered Sunday. Crews from the city’s Water Utilities Department have been working around the clock to repair the pipe.

While no one has been deprived of water, some neighborhoods--such as the Villa Dominique subdivision in northeast Tierrasanta--have lost as much as two-thirds of their water pressure. An area near Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa has only half its usual water pressure, according to Yvonne Rehg, a Water Utilities Department spokeswoman.