Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
Bye-bye, drought
BUCHANAN… part of thechallenge is to develop watersupply systems that are moreresistant to drought conditions
News
May 20, 2014

Bye-bye, drought

IT’S been a week-and-a-half now since the rains have returned.That, according to the Meteorological Service of Jamaica and the National Water Commission (NWC) — which use different definitions of the term — means the drought is effectively over.

“The cautious academic would want to wait on the data coming in from all the areas, but with the rainfall being observed and with the gradual improvement in the stream flows that we’ve observed, it would be reasonable to say the drought has been broken.

This morning our water storage level at Hermitage Dam was 63 per cent and at the Mona Reservoir it was 40 per cent,” NWC communications manager Charles Buchanan told the Jamaica Observer Monday.

The Hermitage facility has a capacity of 393 million gallons, while the dam can hold 809 million gallons. Hermitage and Mona are the largest water storage facilitates in the country.

They serve the Greater Kingston area, stretching from sections of Stony Hill and Constant Spring in the west to downtown Kingston in the east. “Those levels are not fantastic, but they are better compared with where we were some two weeks ago,” said Buchanan in reference to Monday’s water storage levels.

“(Then), we would have been just about 20-something per cent at Hermitage and we would’ve been brushing 30 per cent at Mona and up to that time we were on a declining trajectory.

Thankfully, at the moment, with the recent rains, we have seen an increase. That is in keeping also with the normal expectation for the month of May which we hope will soon see the reservoirs being filled,” he continued.

There have also been improvements in flow to sources across the island “to different degrees, but improvements nonetheless”. But what does this mean for those who have been forced in the past several months to forsake showers in favour of hurried splashes from buckets and basins?

What does it mean for those who have had to wait up until the wee hours of the morning to fill up with what eventually comes from the tap? What does it mean for schools that have been forced to send children home early and to ask parents to equip them with bottles of water for handwashing and other purposes? Buchanan told the newspaper that while the company has stayed on the side of caution by not yet making any official announcements on the subject, the water restriction has been lifted in some areas.

“We have not officially announced the lifting of the water management measures that have been in place; some may remain, but most have been lifted.

Based on the daily monitoring, however, the operations teams will continue to regulate the supply with a view to bringing the reservoir levels to the maximum in the best way possible,” he said, adding that sustained replenishment of the acquifers is necessary for optimal operations.

The NWC uses the hydrological definition of drought, which is a period where streams and water sources register significantly lower than normal inflows and/or depleted reservoir stores.

The Met Office, meanwhile — which has consistently used the term “dry season” and not “drought” to define the period of limited showers — uses the meteorological definition, which measures the phenomenon according to the volume of rainfall recorded over a period of time.

There is also another definition — Agricultural Drought — which speaks to the inadequacy of soil moisture to meet the needs of crops and to initiate and sustain plant growth.

“All three are related to rainfall, but they don’t all happen at the same time or manifest themselves it the same way necessarily,” Buchanan explained.

Using data provided by the Met Office, the NWC spokesman said that between December 2013 and January 2014, St Elizabeth experienced only 53 per cent of its average normal rainfall, dropping below the 60 per cent criterion for meteorological drought.

Trelawny barely escaped, with 64 per cent. By the February to March period, however, an increasing number of parishes had slipped into drought conditions.

Trelawny registered 54 per cent of rainfall; St Ann had 40 per cent; Portland, 48 per cent; Kingston & St Andrew, 60 per cent; and St Mary was a mere 27 per cent. “All of those parishes that I just listed between February and March, by even the meteorological definition of drought have been in either a normal drought or severe drought,” said Buchanan. He gave the example of Turtle Crawl in Portland which, he said, fell to below 10 per cent of normal inflows.

“During April we went to several sources, especially the smaller surface water sources and one in particular, in Portland, for example, fell to below 10 per cent of what were normal inflows at that facility, so while one may look at whether the rainfall data matches with that reality, that description is absolutely in keeping with all the descriptions of a hydrological drought, regardless of whether it was raining cats and dogs elsewhere or whether it was not,” the water commission spokesman said.

The Met Office reported that moderate to heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms affected northern and southwestern parishes Monday with reported land slippages in several Montego Bay communities. It forecast widely scattered showers over northern parishes Monday night into early yesterday.

“As the instability persists, showers and thunderstorms, which could be heavy at times, are expected especially over northern parishes over the next two days,” it said in a statement Monday evening.

 

The Hermitage Dam is at 63 per cent of its 393-million gallon<br />capacity as at Monday.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Parents encouraged to safeguard children during summer break
Latest News, News
Parents encouraged to safeguard children during summer break
July 16, 2026
ST JAMES, Jamaica—Parents and guardians are being urged to take extra precautions during the summer holidays to protect children from heat-related ill...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Education minister urges greater parental engagement during high school years
Latest News, News
Education minister urges greater parental engagement during high school years
July 16, 2026
ST JAMES, Jamaica —Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dana Morris Dixon, is encouraging parents to remain actively engaged ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Binding concession agreement negotiated by PNP responsible for contractual toll rate adjustments, says Vaz
Latest News, News
Binding concession agreement negotiated by PNP responsible for contractual toll rate adjustments, says Vaz
July 16, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica—Transport Minister Daryl Vaz says the recently announced toll rate adjustments is a result of a legally binding concession agreement...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
‘The Hive’ appoints different as REIT manager
Business, Latest News
‘The Hive’ appoints different as REIT manager
July 16, 2026
different Capital Limited has secured another real estate investment trust (REIT) engagement, as it has been appointed REIT manager for The Hive, whic...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
CIBC joins banks to cease isssuing, accepting $1-million cheques
Business, Latest News
CIBC joins banks to cease isssuing, accepting $1-million cheques
July 16, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica—CIBC Caribbean Bank will stop issuing and accepting cheques valued at $1 million or more in Jamaica from September 1 as the banking ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
‘NOT FAIR!’ Taxi operators cry foul over new JUTC services in Greater Portmore
Latest News, News
‘NOT FAIR!’ Taxi operators cry foul over new JUTC services in Greater Portmore
Cabbies frustrated as state bus offering coincides with long-delayed PPV fare hike
Vanassa McKenzie, Observer Online reporter, mckenziev@jamaicaobserver.com 
July 16, 2026
Taxi operators who ply the Greater Portmore to Portmore Mall route in St Catherine say their livelihoods are being threatened by the introduction of c...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Police constable pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2025 killing of D’Jonnay Graham
Latest News, News
Police constable pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2025 killing of D’Jonnay Graham
July 16, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica—Police constable Patrick Walters pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday in connection to the fatal shooting of D’Jonnay Graham ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Flow, Jamaica Pegasus team up for football watch parties
Latest News, News
Flow, Jamaica Pegasus team up for football watch parties
July 16, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica—As the FIFA World Cup heads into its thrilling final stages, Flow and The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel are partnering to give football fans...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct