RALEIGH - Everybody knows you can't defeat a drought without a mascot.

After months of attempting to rally Raleigh residents with everything from household water budgets to low-flow showerheads, city officials have created "Rainy," an anthropomorphic raindrop whose sole mission is to encourage residents to conserve water.

"It just gives a friendly face to remind people to try to conserve water in drought conditions," said Bill Fuller, who was part of the public affairs team that created the cartoon mascot.

Dressed only in boots, gloves and a floppy hat, Rainy bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Potato Head caught in a downpour. He was drawn by a graphic designer in the city's public affairs office.

Rainy currently exists only on the city's Web site, though a future corporeal presence at water conservation events is not out of the question.

Critics of the city's handling of the drought are sure to wonder why Rainy wasn't created last fall, when things were really dry. Rainy's recent arrival coincided with -- or perhaps prompted -- showers that helped replenish Falls Lake.

"I think the day I posted Rainy on the Web site it was rainy," Fuller said.

Even Ed Buchan, the city's water conservation specialist, admitted that "the little fella brought some rain."

Mascots have long been used to draw attention to all sorts of public outreach campaigns -- think Smokey Bear and Reddy Kilowatt. Humanizing raindrops is popular with cities wanting to encourage conservation. The city of Durham has its liquid mascot, called "Wayne Drop."

(Full disclosure: The News & Observer has a mascot, a dog named Browzer that looks like the spawn of a panda and a Saint Bernard.)

Although Rainy is as naked as a jaybird, he's not nearly as suggestive as some mascots. The "Less Waters" mascot in Savannah, Ga., is a running toilet that educates the public on why leaky commodes are bad for the environment.

Rainy is the second mascot created by the city of Raleigh. The other is a spokesfish named Neusie, created a few years ago to educate residents not to pour grease down their drains.

Neusie's campaign to rid Raleigh's sewer system of grease ultimately fell short, as evidenced by the City Council's recent decision to ban new garbage disposals to discourage people from pouring out unwanted lipids.

Fuller said Rainy is familiar with Neusie's work and would never have a disposal.

"Rainy will compost or use the recycling bin," Fuller said. "He knows better."