Water director:?Look for ways to conserve

Dry conditions persisted in Maui County even as heavy showers were being reported in some parts of the state over the past week, prompting Maui County Water Director Jeff Eng to urge customers to use less.

“We need to think about the long term impact of our water usage habits on our aquifers,” he said in his weekly water use report. “All consumers, new and old, should be looking for ways to use less water.”

The weekly report showed demand on Molokai, West Maui, Central Maui and Upcountry systems creeping up during the period of June 5-11.

The Central Maui and Upcountry increases generated the greatest concern, where consumption on the Central Maui system — which provides for the region from Makena to Paia to Wailuku — spiked by more than 1 million gallons a day, from 25.12 mgd during the previous week to 26.15 mgd in the last week.

Eng said Central Maui consumers should be reminded the department set a target of limiting demand to 25 mgd last summer with an appeal for voluntary conservation.

Upcountry demand was up another 460,000 gallons a day — two weeks after the Board of Water Supply issued a drought advisory urging consumers on the system to cut use by 5 percent.

On May 22, the board issued its appeal for voluntary conservation, but it had no apparent effect. Water use increased from 7.77 mgd (week of May 22-28) to 7.94 mgd (week of May 29-June 4) to 8.4 mgd (week of June 5-11).

At the same time, water flows out of East Maui fell to a low of 16.4 mgd in the Wailoa Ditch, setting one of the triggers for the department to consider mandatory restrictions on the system. The ditch has a capacity of nearly 200 mgd, but was running between 17.7 mgd and 16.4 mgd for the period of June 7-10. A spurt of more than an inch of rain in the watershed between Monday and Thursday pushed the Wailoa Ditch flow to 26.8 mgd on Thursday, but the flow dropped to 21.1 mgd on Friday.

While the county can draw 5 mgd from the ditch for Upcountry consumers, the low flows cut available water for the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., which relies on the fresh water to keep its Puunene Mill in operation as well as to allow replanting of fields.

Eng reminded Upcountry consumers that the department is pumping water from the Kamole Weir treatment plant, which draws on the Wailoa Ditch, to supplement the Piiholo Reservoir, which is now feeding the Upper and Lower Kula systems. Reservoir levels Upcountry fell to 54.3 percent of capacity over the past week with the 100-million-gallon Kahakapao Reservoir down to just 19.9 million gallons as of Friday.

Kahakapao had been down to 13.8 million gallons on Monday before showers in the Waikamoi area restored water flow.

“In the Upcountry system, all pumps are on to pump water up to the higher elevations where it’s needed most,” Eng said.

He said the department is putting 3 mgd a day into the Makawao-Haiku system to meet demand and an additional average 1.7 mgd from the Kamole Weir plant is pumped to Piiholo.

“The Piiholo WTF is providing nearly all the water to the Upper Kula system and all wells are up and running,” he said. “We are in a drought, and we are watching the weather closely.”

The department’s appeals may be hampered by Oahu weather reports of heavy rains that occurred primarily on Oahu and Kauai. While there were isolated showers over parts of Maui County including at normally dry Wailea and Makena, overall rainfall totals remain below normal in the watersheds.

In contrast, the Lihue Airport had record rainfall for June 12 and 13 last week — 0.44 inch on Thursday and 1.01 inches on Friday were record totals for the dates.

Ulupalakua showed a cloudburst dropping a quarter-inch of rain Thursday, while Pukalani recorded 0.17 inch — but the Upcountry regions were dry through the rest of the week.

Sporadic showers primarily on Oahu and Kauai were the result of an upper-level trough northwest of the islands that carried moisture into the trade wind flow while cutting the strength of the trades. The showers may help areas of Oahu and Kauai that slipped into a moderate drought category last week. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which has had Hawaii listed as abnormally dry since March, showed a 5 percent increase in areas listed in moderate drought for the period ended June 10.

Central Maui and west Molokai are listed in moderate drought.

“On Maui, the National Weather Service noted that low streamflows have not been adequate to support both diversions for Upcountry water supplies and natural streamflow needed for the lowland taro crops,” the monitor reported.



Average daily water use in Maui County



District June 5-11 May 29-June 4 June 2007

Central Maui 26.15 mgd 25.12 mgd 28.38 mgd

Upcountry 8.40 mgd 7.94 mgd 10.25 mgd

Lahaina 6.40 mgd 6.26 mgd 6.47 mgd

Hana 0.39 mgd 0.40 mgd 0.34 mgd

Molokai 1.57 mgd 1.44 mgd 1.51 mgd

Total 42.91 mgd 41.16 mgd 46.95 mgd