The Maui News

Drought in Maui County continues to persist, leaving water conservation efforts in effect and forcing ranchers to continue maintaining low herd sizes.

The National Weather Service on Thursday reported very dry conditions for many areas across Hawaii during August, and has since worsened to the extreme drought category over west Molokai while Maui remains in the exceptional drought category in the central valley, but eased slightly in the Ulupalakua and Wailea areas.

Still, severe drought covered leeward Haleakala on Maui and most of Lanai.

The Maui County Department of Water Supply reported that their Upcountry reservoirs were running low. Low surface water flows forced the department to request water use reductions for Upcountry and West Maui consumers in June.

Pastures and general vegetation conditions remain “extremely poor” along the lower leeward slopes of the county, according to NWS. Ranchers operating in these areas reduced their herd sizes several months ago as drought conditions started to worsen. Feral deer in Molokai and Maui continue to aggravate operating conditions for farmers by competing with livestock for forage and by consuming produce in non-protected farmlands.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated all of the counties in the state as primary natural disaster areas due to drought. The designation allows funding to be used for emergency loans and compensation for grazing losses.

The NOAA Climate Prediction Center posted an outlook for Hawaii on August 18, showing below normal rainfall into the middle of fall. Longer range projections favor above average rainfall at the end of 2022 and into early 2023.

Based on the rainfall outlook, and because most of the state is still within the dry season, the NWS said that the current drought conditions are expected to intensify and increase in coverage over the next several weeks, especially in the leeward areas of the state.

The next long-lead outlook will be issued by the Climate Prediction Center at the end of the week.