Eng: Rainfall below normal, but usage low

WAILUKU - Rainfall continued well below normal over the past week, but consumption remained relatively low and even fell on the Upcountry system, Water Director Jeff Eng said in his weekly water use report.

With reservoir levels stabilized, Eng said, the water department will resume use of the Olinda Water Treatment Facility for the Upper Kula System beginning Monday. The change may affect water quality since the Olinda plant uses chloramines for disinfection. It does not have the odor that can result with chlorine used at the Piiholo Water Treatment Facility.

Water demand on the Central Maui system increased by 1 million gallons a day over the previous week, but Eng indicated that the demand was within reasonable limits.

He said comparisons with water consumption in December 2007 are not valid since several sections of the Upcountry and West Maui water systems were out of service during that time, damaged by floods from a severe Kona storm.

But he said the department is concerned about levels in the Wailoa Ditch, which reflect the low rainfall in the East Maui watershed. The Upcountry Water Report shows flows in the Wailoa Ditch falling from 44.4 mgd Nov. 30 to 23.6 mgd Thursday, increasing slightly to 24.2 mgd Friday.

Water in the ditch is used primarily by the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. for fields in Central Maui and at its Puunene Sugar Mill. But Maui County taps the flow for up to 5 mgd and also relies on the ditch to supply the Kula Agricultural Park.

"The Upcountry water system is a constant challenge," Eng said.

While the 100-million-gallon Kahakapao Reservoir is up to 82 million gallons, he said, the department will continue to pump water from the lower systems to maintain reservoir levels.

"A a precaution, we continue to pump water up from the Makawao water system to the Lower Kula area and to the Piiholo Reservoir to make sure we have adequate supply for Lower Kula," he said. "Our primary concern is the Wailoa Ditch level, which is low due to little rainfall in the East Maui watershed."

The National Weather Service on Thursday issued a Drought Information Statement noting that rainfall on Kauai and Oahu had eased drought conditions on those islands, but severe to extreme drought conditions affecting agricultural operations persist over Maui and the Big Island.

"All counties in the state remain under a primary natural disaster area declaration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture due to losses caused by the ongoing drought," the weather service said.

The declaration allows farmers to qualify for low-interest loans to deal with effects of the dry conditions on pastures and on water demand.

For the month of November, the monthly rainfall report showed virtually all regions of Maui to be well below normal. Two exceptions were Kula, with 2.83 inches representing 123 percent of normal; and Pukalani, with 2.43 inches representing 97 percent of normal

West Wailua Iki, in the East Maui watershed, recorded 7.19 inches for the month, 39 percent of normal. Haiku on one side of the watershed received 1.47 inches, 22 percent of normal; Hana on the other had 3.7 inches, 46 percent of normal.

Puu Kukui in the West Maui watershed received 16.35 inches - but that was just 50 percent of normal for November.