The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Travel discussion for St. John
Post Reply
Coconuts
Posts: 621
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:41 pm
Location: Southern NH, USA

The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by Coconuts »

For many St. John residents, this has been the worst drought in living memory. A recent article in the Virgin Islands Daily News helps put it all in perspective, and also explains why folks on STT and STX don't always agree about just how bad things are. Fresh water in the VI is made by desalinating sea water via reverse osmosis, a process that takes a lot of electricity. The public agency involved is accordingly WAPA, the Water and Power Authority, whose main business is producing all of the VI's premium-priced electricity. They work with a private corporation called Seven Seas, who actually runs the reverse osmosis facilities on STT and STX. WAPA keeps track of how much water they send to each island, and the comparisons to last year are remarkable! Here's the breakdown:

St. Thomas: 2015/2014 increase in fresh water use: 181%
St. Croix: 2015/2014 increase in fresh water use: 214%
St. John: 2015/2014 increase in fresh water use: 1,134% !!

That's an astounding increase from last year, which wasn't a very wet one to begin with. There must be some quirk to the local weather that is singling out St. John for an exceptionally dry year. Even locals whose frugal water use let them get by without having to buy water in the past are having loads delivered now, and many of St. John's animals and plants are stressed. Villa owners have a different sort of stress, as regular water loads at a bit shy of $500 each eat into their revenue. We have had to order a lot of water deliveries this year.

The above statistics on water use are from this article in the VI Daily News, which is worth reading:
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/ ... -1.1920049

All the best,

Kevin
iheartsj
Posts: 324
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by iheartsj »

My advice to visitors. I know many people who like to shower every morning so they can wake up and feel refreshed.

Please skip the morning shower if you are headed to the beach. You will want to shower when you get back from the beach. Limit your showers to once per day and take an island shower. Turn on water, wet down, turn off water, soap up and scrub, turn on water to rinse.

You may think, "I'm paying a bunch for this villa and should use all the water I want. If the owner needs to buy lots of water, the rental price will probably go up in the future.
Exit Zero
Posts: 1451
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: virgin islands

Re: The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by Exit Zero »

The percentage of homes on both STT and STX that are vacation rental villas is very low compared to the overwhelming number of vacation rentals in STJ so it skews the kind of increases mentioned.
Residents can really go into a water conservation mode to put off having to buy a truckload of water but vacation rentals must keep the cistern full enough to accommodate renters who have very limited knowledge of the water situation and rarely practice even the kind of water conservation that residents do in normal weather times and often have no clue that there are no water pipes bringing unlimited water to the house.
Also very few island homes have pools and multiple bathrooms and showers that require water - property managers will order truckloads of water for a rental villa to ensure they don't run out and call with a complaint in an emergency where a local resident would wait much longer.
No doubt the drought conditions are serious all over the USVI but the increase in water use in STJ is driven by the needs of vacation rental owners and renters just as coconuts mentioned they have had to "order a lot of water deliveries this year"
User avatar
loria
Posts: 3124
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:33 pm
Location: NY

Re: The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by loria »

i think we are on our 8th delivery .... maybe 9th....
we have meters and gauges and our manager talks about the need for conservation (and some parties have been VERY frugal with their water use -- and for that i am very grateful) But if you have a full house (and we've had some very big parties renting) -- well, anyway you look at 7-8 people use a lot of water.....
I grew up spending all summer in a place where we relied on rainwater for our water...so i am used to conserving -- but as exit zero said not everyone is going to behave in conservation mode--
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
Coconuts
Posts: 621
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:41 pm
Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by Coconuts »

Exit Zero is entirely correct to point out that the considerably higher percentage of rental villas with pools on St. John, and the less savvy water conservation practices of visitors, accounts for a lot of the difference between St. John's upsurge in water usage during this drought. However, I still think that local variations in weather are involved. Just as the East End is normally a lot drier than Bordeaux, island to island variations exist, and St. John being the smallest of the three USVI islands certainly doesn't help. An anecdote from the fellow who tends our pool at Plumeria illustrates the point. A long time resident, I asked him how he was doing with water, and if he was savvy enough with his conservation practices to avoid buying water. He replied: "I've only bought three loads of water the whole time I've lived on St. John. The problem is, they were all this year".

All the best,

Kevin
Wanda Creech
Posts: 345
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:47 pm
Location: Raleigh,NC

Re: The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by Wanda Creech »

We try to conserve water by taking shorter and less showers and a few other things.I am sure there are more things that renters could do and would be willing to help. Most of us who visit Love St. John. Do villa owners tell visitors how they can help? Anyone can look outside and see there is a problem. I don't remember if it is in the rental book but that would be helpful.First page. Maybe a note in a the bathroom to remind like they have in hotels.
Beach Creecher
iheartsj
Posts: 324
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: The worst drought on St. John in a long time

Post by iheartsj »

Would it be possible for villa owners to install a water meter? The reading could be taken when the guest arrives and when they leave. Guest would be notified in their contract that any water usage over XXX gallons will be charged at the rate of $$$ to their credit card. The gallons allocation could be based on the number of people that week.
Everyone knows that the current expenses of operating a villa business are eventually passed to all the future renters.

I stayed in a rental on St. John that had a little sign over the toilet paper. " In the land of fun and sun we rarely flush for number one."

I also once stayed at a place in Amsterdam, where you put your quarter in the slot and got a limited amount of water for your shower. Another quarter = more water. I thought this was one of the smartest ideas.
Post Reply