WAILUKU — Scant rainfall continued to alarm Maui County water officials, who kept a wary eye on low flows in the Wailoa Ditch last week.

The ditch gathers water from the East Maui watershed and channels it to the Kamole Water Treatment Plant, a vital source of drinking water pumped uphill to parched Upcountry reservoirs. The ditch has a capacity flow of nearly 200 million gallons per day, but on Friday it dropped to 25.1 mgd, its lowest flow since Oct. 30, when it was only 19.2 mgd.

"Since last week, rainfall has been sorely lacking," Water Supply Director Jeff Eng said Friday. "Puu Kukui (in West Maui) has received less than 0.1 inch in the past seven days. West Wailuaiki (in East Maui) received less than half an inch. These two normally wet areas illustrate the severity of the current drought."

Low flows in the ditch left water officials concerned about having enough water to serve the Kula Agricultural Park, Eng said.

"If low ditch flows continue, the department will activate the Hamakuapoko wells to supplement ditch water to the Kula Agriculture Park," he said.

Hawaii's wet season should have begun in October, but drought continues to affect many areas in the Islands, said Kevin Kodama of the National Weather Service.

He said some additional rainfall combined with seasonally cooler temperatures to help stabilize the drought and helped prevent it from worsening.

A check of rain gauges for the 24-hour period ending at 8 p.m. Saturday showed either no or scant rainfall at all stations in Maui County.

Maui water consumers, however, lowered their average daily water use in Central and South Maui, Upcountry and in Lahaina, while Hana residents kept their use level with the week before. Central and South Maui residents used an average of 23.96 mgd for the week ending Wednesday, an improvement from the 24.15 mgd averaged the week before.

Upcountry's three reservoirs held 75.5 million gallons as of Friday, the lowest level since 70.8 mg on Oct. 31.