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What
are my risks?
The Big Island's drought has forced people to drive to get water.
Barney Sheffield, a resident of Paradise Park, uses a hose to fill
a commercial fish cooler along the Keaau-Pahoa Highway while Felix
Padamada of Orchidland waits his turn.
Photo by Rod Thompson, Courtesy of the Star-Bulletin
How does drought affect me in
the short-term?
Droughts
increase the potential for wildland
fires.
Farmers,
cattle ranchers, and people using water catchment systems are the
most severely affected by drought.
How does drought affect me in
the medium-term?
Drought
exacerbates the problem of ensuring a sustainable yield of potable
water. Since Hawaii is an island state, this is particularly critical.
Failure to take appropriate action could result in Hawaii not having
sufficient quantity and quality of water resources to sustain future
population and industry.
The State’s
Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has estimated that
within 25 years groundwater on Oahu will have to be supplemented
with other sources to keep up with the demand.
Source: Drought and Wildland Fire Mitigation Plan,
Department of Defense, Civil Defense Division, Dec 1998.
Hawaii County’s Most Severe Droughts
Droughts
have impacted almost every island in Hawaii with the most severe
ones in the past 15 years associated with the El Nino phenomenon.
During the El Nino years, droughts have occurred during the winter-spring
period.
|
YEAR
|
REMARKS
|
| 1901
|
Serious
drought, destructive forest fires in North Hawaii |
| 1905 |
Serious
drought and forest fires in Kona |
| 1908 |
Serious
drought |
| 1912
|
Serious
drought and severe sugarcane crop damage for two years in Kohala
|
| 1953
|
Water
tanks in Kona almost empty; 867 head of cattle died; rainfall
in the islands 40% less than normal |
| 1962 |
State-declared
disaster; crop damage, cattle deaths, and severe fire hazards;
losses totaled $200,000 for Hawaii and Maui. |
| 1965
|
State
water emergency declared; losses totaled $400,000. |
| 1971 |
Irrigation
and domestic water users sharply curtailed. |
| 1976-77
|
Water
hauled to families in Kona |
| 1977-78
|
State-declared
disaster |
| 1980-81 |
State
declared disaster; heavy agricultural and cattle losses; damage
totaling at least $1.4 in Hawaii and Maui. |
| 1983-85 |
State-declared
disaster; crop production reduced by 80% in Waimea/Kamuela;
$96,000 spent on drought relief projects. |
| 1996
|
Declared
drought emergency; heavy damages to agriculture and cattle industries;
losses totaling at least $9.4 million in Hawaii, Maui, and Molokai. |
| 1998
|
County-declared
emergency for Hawaii due to water shortages. |
| 1999,
2000 |
State
declared drought emergency. |
Source: State Department of Land and Natural Resources,
National Weather Service, State Civil Defense Division
|