Clifford Jamile, manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, today said water levels in the island’s aquifers are 6 inches lower than they were at this point last year.

Measurements taken in December and January show that they are still suffering from five years of drought, he said. They would need to rise at least 2 feet to recover.

The water board asked for voluntary cutbacks last year when daily use reached a record level of 180 million gallons a day. For nearly four months, residents were urged to dramatically cut irrigation use, and neighborhood yards and public parks went from green to brown.

"People have got to understand that things improved but they did not even get us back to where they were this time last year and that is kind of scary," Jamile said. "Last year, things were really bad and we had to make those voluntary restrictions. The next stop is mandatory restrictions.

"Will we get there? There is a strong likelihood that something like that will have to take place later this year."

Jamile worries that the public will see a lush landscape and become complacent. He also said he cannot forecast how much more rain will fall, even though the winter so far has been wet.

Winter is the season when the island’s aquifers normally re-charge, but heavy rain is not best-case scenario.