Drought kills crops,
may force layoffs
On Maui, Hawaii's largest
By Gary Kubota
sugar plantation may have to
furlough some workers
And Rod Thompson
Star-BulletinWAILUKU -- Layoffs loom on the horizon at the state's largest sugar plantation and farmers are reducing their crops, as the worst Hawaii drought in the decade is expected to continue through May. The drought is severely affecting parts of the Big Island and Maui.
The Big Isle rainfall in January has been less than half the normal amount, with Hilo having its lowest monthly rainfall in its recorded history.
"It gets worse every day," said Hans Rosendal, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.
Rosendal said the drought caused by El Nino conditions is the worst since the early 1980s. It is expected to continue at least through May, he said.
The Maui County Board of Water Supply has ordered a 10 percent reduction in water consumption for mountain areas from Kanaio to Haiku, effective today.
The board is giving a grace period to farmers in these areas, allowing them to continue to irrigate existing crops.
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. on Maui, the largest plantation in Hawaii with 37,000 acres in production, has stopped planting about 500 acres in Haliimaile.
General Manager Stephen Holaday said the company will have to stop planting more acreage and probably will have to lay off some of the 100 workers in its planting section.
He said timing of the furlough will depend on the drought and how long the company is able to keep workers busy with planting in areas with water.
Holaday said the drought also is reducing sugar cane yields but he won't know the impact until harvest.
In Kula, some farmers have alsomr6 Valerie
Murashige stopped planting.
Ward Murashige, 36, whose great-grandfather started the family farm in the early 1900s, estimated his production of head cabbage will be reduced by 25 percent due to the drought.
His wife, Valerie, said the drought, which follows a dry year last year, is going to make life difficult for a number of farmers.
"A lot of farmers are getting back on their feet from the 1996 drought," she said.
Statewide, rainfall has been below normal on all islands in January. In windward areas of Maui, rainfall was about 10 percent of normal, Rosendal said. On Kauai, rainfall was down to 40 to 50 percent of normal.
On the Big Island, rainfall on the windward side was 5 percent of normal, while about 25 to 50 percent in west Hawaii, he said.
In the remote subdivision of Hawaiian Ranchos near the southern end of the Big Island, resident Sonja Oberosler walked outside her house on her three-acre parcel yesterday and talked to her wilting plants. "Some of you will bite the dust," she said.
Oberosler said the drought began in her Kau District community in October.
A keeper of meticulous rainfall records, she says Ranchos got no rain in October, 1 inch in November, and nothing since then.
Her plumeria trees are shriveling and wrinkling. "They look like an old woman's face," she said.
Elizabeth Young lives 10 miles to the east near Waiohinu, where she said it usually rains every afternoon. Now her 15 cattle are thin and her 150 coffee trees are "kind of tilting over."
Her husband, Charles, makes commercial water deliveries with their three tanker trucks from Kealakekua to Volcano, a span of 80 miles. He's booked for the next three weeks, she said.
Some people get relatively small 2,500-gallon deliveries at $80 to $110 because they can't afford bigger loads, she said.
Some can't afford deliveries at all and get free water from county emergency spigots.
"I feel sorry for the old people," she said.
County Civil Defense official Wendell Hatada said there are 13 sites with public spigots on the island, but only one in Kau.
Water left from heavy rains last year is helping Oahu get through the ongoing dry spell.
The Board of Water Supply said Oahu ground water remains at "fairly healthy" levels, but is asking residents to conserve water.
Kauai is probably faring the best of the state's major islands, said Ernest Lau, manager of Kauai's water department.
The department is still monitoring water reservoir levels and will likely issue advisories this week calling for water conservation.
Star-Bulletin reporters Trish Moore and
Harold Morse contributed to this report.
Plenty of Oahu ground water
for now; future uncertainThe water board urges conservation
By Harold Morse
because dry weather may linger
Star-BulletinWater left from heavy rains last year is helping Oahu get through the ongoing dry spell, water supply officials said. The Board of Water Supply said Oahu ground water remains at "fairly healthy" levels, but is asking residents to conserve water.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely because rainfall is below normal and consumption is slightly higher," spokeswoman Denice DeCosta said.
Rainfall over the past few months has been 20 percent of normal.
"If you look at November, December and January, we had 2 inches, where normally we get 10," said Hans Rosendal, National Weather Service lead forecaster.
Although he foresees no substantial rain in the next 10 days, the pattern beyond that is unknown. "Chances are it will remain dry," he said.
Oahu could be in trouble if the lack of rain continues for some months, so conservation will be encouraged throughout the year, DeCosta said.
The Board of Water Supply has determined Oahu ground water will be in good shape unless summer or fall is unusually dry, DeCosta said.
