The Maui News
July 7, 2008
As long as there is water in the tap, a good flow from the shower and the toilet flushes, it's easy to forget just how critical the water situation is on Maui.
The island is edging from dry to parched. The summer and early fall months are traditionally the driest of the year, and 2008 is shaping up to be a drought year.
Being careful with the use of water should be second nature for everyone on Maui. Consumption can be cut by measures as simple as not letting the water run if not absolutely necessary, but the big use of domestic water is landscape irrigation. Spot watering and using drip rather than just hosing everything down can keep plants alive, if not thriving.
The dry conditions raise another problem that requires a watchful eye - fire. Brushy areas can go up in flames from the tiniest spark. Winds can drive those flames across hundreds of acres in less time than it takes to marshal the firefighters. Sugar cane fields are also vulnerable. It is a grass, after all, and the leaves in many fields are bone-dry.
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. is...
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