By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter THE NORTHERN parishes of St. Mary, St. Ann and Portland seem to be worst affected by a prolonged dry spell registering the highest demand for help from the Drought Management Unit in the Ministry of Water.
But while residents of the affected areas and the government are deeming the dry period a "drought", the Meteorological Service is insisting that the island is not experiencing a full-scale drought.
Rudolf Nelson, co-ordinator of the Unit, told The Gleaner the department was relying heavily on information from the Parish Councils to determine communities most severely affected by the prolonged dry spell.
"Based on the information we have, the northern region has been experiencing a long dry spell, and we have been responding to requests from that region for help," Mr. Nelson said.
"We have dispatched our rapid response units in the northern region and other regions to try and alleviate the problems with the drought situation."
According the National Meteorological Service, the mean average for rainfall in St. Mary dropped from 232 millimetres in January to 53 millimetres in February. A similar dramatic reduction has been recorded in St. Ann and Portland with averages dropping from 246 mm to 30 mm and from 657 mm to 170 mm respectively. Meanwhile, the co-ordinator of the Drought Management Unit said the most needy communities were being given priority attention and he was confident that the 96 Rapid Response units attached to the Drought Management Unit are enough to carry out water relief activities in areas stricken by the dry-spell, in the six regions in which the island is divided.
The toll-free number to the Drought Management unit (1888-468-7464) became operational yesterday and with this latest development, the Ministry believes that requests for its services will jump significantly. Some $26.6 million has been identified by government to fund the unit.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Service is maintaining that even though sections of the island are facing below average rainfall, the island is not facing a drought.
"It would have had to be receiving below average rainfall for eight consecutive weeks for full-scale drought to be declared," said Sylvia McGill, Director of Meteorology, at the Meteorological Service.
"December to end of March is generally classified as a dry period. This is when the island gets below average rainfall," Ms. McGill points out. "Even though the amount of rainfall in most parishes decreased significantly in February, we cannot say these parishes are experiencing a drought, because during a drought the dry spell would have to last at least eight consecutive weeks."
She said all parishes except for Manchester recorded below average rainfall in February. "However we are not in a position to comment on March, since the figures have not yet been finalised," she added.
All parishes with the exception of Hanover, Portland, Westmoreland and St. Thomas have been receiving below 60 per cent or normal rainfall expected for the month. The two hardest hit parishes are Clarendon and St. James which are receiving 14 per cent and 15 per cent respectively of normal rainfall at this time. Data from the Met Service shows that St. James got a mean average of only 11 millimetres of rainfall during February and Clarendon only benefited from 6 millimetres.
And as the dry spell takes its toll in the Corporate Area, the National Water Commission is enforcing a strict water regime on areas served by the Hermitage Dam.
Charles Buchannan, Corporate Communications Director for the Commission explains that the Hermitage Reservoir which has a capacity of 1,789 mega litres is currently down to some 60% of its capacity as the dry conditions have caused a reduction of inflows from rivers which flow into the dam. The rivers now showing a significant reduction in volume are the Wag Water, Moresham and Ginger rivers.
As a result, nightly water restrictions have been put in place for the Constant Spring, Stony Hill, Havendale and Meadowbrook areas.
"We don't expect heavy rains before May, so we need to keep those restrictions in place, so our supply is not depleted," Mr. Buchanan said.
