By LEONARD GRAY

HAHNVILLE – Weather conditions remain dry throughout the River Parishes, and the area is now considered under a mild drought, according to National Weather Service officials.

Effects of a drought run deep and wide, often running into areas some may not realize. Homeowners notice the yellowing grass and withered gardens, but there are other effects throughout the area.

Take water supply, for instance.

St. John the Baptist Parish’s Civil Defense Director Paul Oncale said, “The water supply is fine; we have no problems.”

He said work on improving the parish’s water supply and transmission during the past two years has paid off, and the parish residents may water their lawns freely. The parish already has an ordinance in place to restrict trash fires.

St. Charles Parish Waterworks Director Robert Brou commented on the drought, “if it continues, we may have a problem.”

The parish waterworks system takes water from the Mississippi River, cleans and purifies it and transmits it to residences and businesses. “We’ve always met or exceeded federal water quality standards,” Brou said.

In fact, the waterworks department produces so much water, with millions of gallons in storage at towers in Taft, Des Allemands, Montz and St. Rose, as well as ground storage tanks, East and West Banks, that it can and has helped Jefferson and St. John the Baptist parishes when those areas experience a strain in their systems.

The LaPlace area, for example, takes a considerable percentage of their water supply from the wells at Ruddock. However, a few years ago when an inspector drowned in a water tank near Interstate 10, the lines were blocked while the tank was drained and sanitized before putting it back into service. In the meantime, St. Charles Parish assisted the area with backup water.

The East Bank treatment plant in Luling can produce seven million gallons per day and averages five million in daily production, while the West Bank treatment plant in Destrehan can produce nine million gallons per day.

This allows those residents to water their lawns, wash their cars and fill their swimming pools – for now.

“But I still want some rain,” Brou said.

Take fire-fighting capability.

John Heath of the Luling Volunteer Fire Department said in that parish, at least, water pressure is not a problem. The real hazard, though, is the extremely dry conditions. If a trash fire or a grass fire gets out of hand, “with this wind, it can get into the structures.”

Parish ordinances forbid trash fires, but a stray cigarette butt could cause a devastating grass fire.

Indeed, State Fire Marshal V.J. Bella urges extreme caution under the current weather conditions. A recent trash fire in Baton Rouge got out of hand, set the house ablaze and took more than three hours for the fire department to bring it under control.

“People always think it can’t happen to them,” Bella said recently. “Every year in this state, we see homes and woodlands destroyed due to careless burning – and every year, we see the needless risk to the life and safety of our firefighters that this practice poses.”

Bella added, “If it’s a cultural attitude in this state that it’s OK to burn anytime and anyplace that we want to, then it’s time that we “unlearn” this practice.”

He concluded, “It doesn’t take long for a small fire to become a monster, particularly if it’s unattended. If a fire does become uncontrollable, the first thing that you must do is call the fire department. It is much better to be safe than sorry.”

Take sugar cane farming.

Denis Lanaux, who has 1,500 acres of sugar cane under cultivation near the Hale Boggs Bridge, said the cane is “under stress,” and “doesn’t have that true green color,” instead becoming more yellow under the heat and drying wind.

“If you come across the bridge, it looks like yellow streaks where it looks like we didn’t fertilize, but we did,” Lanaux said.

Dry ground will not initially soak up rain, and a good soak might be needed to turn around the effects now visible, the experts said.