STORY SUMMARY>>>
Hawaii's ‘exceptional’ drought conditions have gone from bad to worst, sparking fears that ranchers and farmers on the Big Island could lose their livelihoods.
"From livestock to coffee, macadamia nuts, avocados, ornamentals - it's covering all bases in terms of the agriculture side,” said National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Kodama.
On Thursday the weather service expanded exceptional drought conditions in Hawaii, known as D4, to include the southeast portion of the Big Island’s Kau District.
The South Kohala District has been under exceptional drought conditions the past four months.
“Certainly it's not getting better, it's growing in coverage,” Kodama said about the lack of rain.
Elsewhere, parts of Molokai, Maui and Oahu continue under ‘extreme’ drought conditions, or D3. All three islands have instituted voluntary or mandatory water restrictions in response to the dry conditions.
“We have the worst drought conditions in the country right now,” said Kodama.
Hawaii gets a majority of its precipitation during the rainy season, from the beginning of October through the end of April. However rainfall the past two seasons has been well below normal, in part because of the El Nino weather pattern.
“With El Nino the statewide drought kicked in and so we never really got the winter rains that we needed,” explains Kodama. “As we've gone into summer it's just persisted and gotten worst.”
The situation on the Big Island is so dire that recently a farmer in Kau lost his entire crop of pineapple. In Pahala a macadamia nut grower had to use heavy irrigation to prevent his entire orchard from withering away.
Rep. Clift Tsuji, a Hilo Democrat, hopes to introduce legislation in January that would provide financial aide to those hit hardest by drought.
"In other words appropriations,” said Tsuji, “so that we can work hand-in-hand with the counties to help the communities.”
Tsuji introduced a similar measure in 2007 that set aside $4 million for drought mitigation projects in each county.
He said assistance is needed now more than ever since Big Island ranchers and farmers are also dealing with the impact of vog from Kilauea Volcano.
"They've noted that their metal fences corrode very easily and quickly and that has really affected them financially,” said the Hilo democrat.
Of course the greatest help of all would come from Mother Nature, but Kodama says relief may be months away.
“You just need a good soaking rain, several storm events,” said Kodama. “You probably won't see that kind of rain until the next wet season, which will start off in October.”
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