2019 – The Year of the Lowest Annual Rainfall on St Helena

2019 has officially been recorded as the year with the lowest annual rainfall on St Helena since records began in 1977, with a total of just 286.2mm recorded for the entire year (see chart attached).

This lack of rainfall has contributed to the Island’s current water shortage, which remains serious. Reservoir levels have gradually decreased recently with stored water now at around 35%.

Despite the increase in population on-Island over the busy festive period, water usage, although still higher than 1000 cubic metres, did not reach excessive rates and the public is thanked for their efforts. Regardless, to ensure we preserve our Island’s precious resource, consumption levels must remain as low as possible.

Remember that we are currently under a hosepipe ban following Connect Saint Helena’s enforcement of (CSH) Island-wide water restrictions in June 2019.

CSH has also noticed that those who have been issued exemptions from the water restrictions, mostly for agricultural use, have been exceeding the amount agreed within the exemption. This is not acceptable and those with exemptions must ensure they use water responsibly. Agricultural exemption limits are informed by the Agriculture & Natural Resources Division (ANRD) and exceeding these may hinder being granted further exemptions.

It is everyone’s responsibility to take great care in using our water and consumers are continually urged to reduce consumption wherever possible. St Helena residents, businesses and people who use water for agricultural purposes are also urged to exercise great care and restraint when using water.

In the interim, CSH will continue pumping from Chubb’s Spring and Hutt’s Gate as well as from Fisher’s Valley and Warren’s Gut. The yield from Chubb’s Spring has decreased recently with a current yield of around 60 cubic metres per day as opposed to a period when CSH was extracting around 180 cubic metres daily.

Every drop counts, every action counts – save water now to be safe later

#StHelena #WaterShortage #2019LowestAnnualRainfall #EveryDropCounts

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St Helena Resilience Forum
8 January 2020

St Helena Government Communications Hub

Telephone: 22470
Email: kimberley.peters@sainthelena.gov.sh