Hawaii First Water

Ka‘u farmers fear loss of water permits

March 2016: By IVY ASHE Hawaii Tribune-Herald

HILO — Farmers and ranchers in the Ka‘u District (Big Island) concerned about statewide impacts of a recent court decision regarding East Maui water rights are hoping a piece of legislation can serve as a temporary solution.

House Bill 2501 amends a section of Hawaii Revised Statutes to allow revocable water use permits to be extended for a holdover period if the user in question is in the process of applying for a long-term lease.

Revocable permits for both land and water use are issued on a month-to-month basis by the Board of Land and Natural Resources. There are nine such water permits in the state, said Randy Cabral, board president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau and a Ka‘u farmer. Five of those permits are in Ka‘u.

There are also revocable permits held by Alexander & Baldwin Inc. for land on Maui used by sugar subsidiary Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. Those permits, and BLNR’s continued issuance of them, were challenged in court last year by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of a group of Maui taro farmers, fishermen and cultural practitioners seeking access to the stream system that feeds the 36,000 acres owned by HC&S.

Legal challenges to the water diversions used by HC&S began in mid-1980s, according to The Maui News.

In January, First Circuit Court Judge Rhonda Nishimura granted the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment in the case, writing that although Hawaii Revised Statutes authorized temporary occupation of public lands, “A&Bs’s continuous uninterrupted use of these public lands on a holdover basis … is not the ‘temporary’ use that HRS Chapter 171 envisions. … Such a prospect is inconsistent with the public interest and legislative interest.”

The decision has since been appealed.

Many Ka‘u farmers, who have been in the process of converting their revocable permits to a long-term lease issued through the state Department of Agriculture’s Agribusiness Development Corporation for about a decade, viewed the ruling with concern because the language could be interpreted to mean all revocable permits, not just those held by A&B.

“Without that water, should the BLNR say, ‘No, the permits are no longer valid, you can no longer take water,’ it would be devastating,” Cabral said. “Everybody seems to think it only affects (A&B).”

“If the state doesn’t support these revocable permits, then I have no more water,” said Lani Petrie, owner of Kapapala Ranch, estimating that she had between four and six months’ water supply in reservoirs but no sources beyond that. Petrie and Michelle Galimba, owner of Kuahiwi Ranch, traveled to Oahu to testify during committee hearings for the bill.

See the article here

A&B (Water) diversion permits ruled invalid

Jan 2016. By LEE IMADA – Managing Editor (leeimada@mauinews.com) , The Maui News

An Oahu judge has invalidated state water diversion permits to Alexander & Baldwin for its waning Maui sugar operations in a ruling that a member of the plaintiff’s group called “a historic victory.” The permits have been extended annually for 13 years without an official environmental review.

(Kailua Kona) Keauhou aquifer resolution could be a long time coming

20 Jan 2016.

By Bret Yager West Hawaii Today byager@westhawaiitoday.com

Don’t hold your breath.

The last major decision on whether control of the water should be placed in state hands happened last August. That was when the state Commission on Water Resource Management declined a National Park Service request to create a smaller water use management area within the larger aquifer.

Since then, the war over water has gone quiet.

Peter Young — a former chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources who is now a consultant opposing the designation — said that no news in good news.

“It’s not over, which is relatively good, because in the beginning there was a push to get it done fast,” Young said at a meeting last week in Kailua-Kona.

Jonathan Scheuer, a consultant for NPS on the aquifer designation, said on Tuesday that it took nearly 20 years for the Iao aquifer on Maui to be designated a state water management area. The designation places control of pumping and permits in the hands of CWRM rather than the county departments of water supply.

See the rest of the article here

Perishing of Thirst in a Pacific Paradise: Long before the Marshall Islands disappear under rising seas, finding freshwater will become the most urgent consequence of climate change.

Jan 2016. By Peter Mellgard, The World Post.  Huffpost.

 

MAJURO, Marshall Islands — A few yards from the crashing waves of the Pacific, on a precariously narrow strip of land, precious rainwater pools on the runway of the Marshall Islands’ main airport. This is how the government hydrates tens of thousands of its citizens: the rainwater runoff from the airstrip. The water — complete with bird droppings and whatever else has landed on the tarmac — is funneled via pipes to earthen storage reservoirs. From there, it gets filtered and treated and pumped to people down the atoll.

During a normal week the water only flows for 12 hours. In prolonged droughts, which are almost certain to happen in 2016, the reservoirs can get depleted to the last drop. The country can hold on for only a few months without rain. Thirsty Marshallese, many of whom rely on their own much smaller rainwater catchment containers, won’t have anything to drink or wash with. Dehydration, starvation, malnutrition and disease have been known to follow. Crops fail. Sensitive groundwater reservoirs become contaminated.

This is a bleak outlook for a vulnerable country in the remote Pacific, halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The Marshall Islands are a heavenly chain of white sandy beaches and coral reefs, but they are paradoxically one of the most inhospitable and challenging places to build a nation. Climate change will have numerous, complicated effects here. Access to freshwater, already in limited supply on the archipelago, is likely to become the most serious issue.

The rest of the article is here…

 

Our Water World

(editor’s note: This is an excellent fact filled story on fresh water in Hawaii.  For a better sense of when the water will run short see our blog article published in Sept 2014.)

49 Facts You Should Know About Oahu’s H2O, including Surprises, Good News and Hidden Dangers

Lavonne Leong; Hawaii Business, November, 2015

We all know it: Water is life.

With California’s drought in the headlines, climate change looming and some troubling local numbers – base stream flow, rainfall and aquifer levels are all down on Oahu – now is a good time to ask the same question of our water that we ask of our farm-to-table food: What’s its story?

Where does our water come from? How good is it and is it better, or worse, than bottled water? Are we taking care of it? Who’s using it?

Most important, will there be enough for the future?

Here is the Hawaii Business guide to the fresh water that we share. Included is information on each island, but each island is different, so we have focused on Oahu, both the most populous and the “Goldilocks Island.”

See the rest of this article here

The Second Conference on Water Resource Sustainability Issues on Tropical Islands

December 1 – 3, 2015 | Hilton Hawaiian Village | Honolulu, Hawaii

Presented By

Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), Hawaii and American Samoa
Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI), Guam
Puerto Rico Water Resources and Environmental Research Institute (PRWRERI), Puerto Rico
The Virgin Islands Water Resources Research Institute (VI-WRRI), U. S. Virgin Islands
University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program
University of Hawaii Department of Geology and Geophysics
USGS Pacific Islands Water Science Center (PIWSC), Honolulu, Hawaii
National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR)
United States Geological Survey (USGS)

The 2015 conference will build on discussions and interactions from a previous conference hosted by the four Island Institutes (WRRC, WERI, PRWRERI, and VI-WRRI) in Honolulu, Hawaii from November 14–16, 2011. The intention of these discussions is to strengthen the synergism between researchers working in the State of Hawaii, U.S. affiliated islands in the Pacific, U.S. Virgin islands, and Puerto Rico, and to develop solutions and ideas on water resources issues that are particularly relevant to tropical islands.

See the link here to register…

Five Million Gallon Oil Plume Beneath Pearl Harbor

18 Sept 2015,

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –

For decades, leaks from Pearl Harbor’s fuel tanks and other sources have been collecting beneath the ground near the naval base’s Halawa gate.

Hawaii News Now has obtained records issued by the Navy that indicate that the subsurface oil plume there now contains more than 5 million gallons of fuel.

That’s roughly half the volume of Alaska’s Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and nearly 200 times the size of last year’s leak at the Navy’s Red Hill underground fuel facility.

To see the rest of this story see

Flowing waters…

Hawaii Magazine Article, 7 Sept,

By Catherine Toth Fox,

When Dr. Craig China purchased a vacant lot in Nuuanu Valley in 1999, he was surprised to find he’d also bought a little-known, little-seen remnant of Oahu history, too. The deed to China’s 12,000-square-foot property indicated that he was now responsible for the upkeep of its portion of the Nuuanu auwai, early Hawaiian irrigation canals that once flowed into an extensive network of loi kalo (terraced taro fields) blanketing the lush, residential valley neighboring urban Honolulu. The auwai coursed through his property and down the road, emptying into Nuuanu Stream, the valley’s principal stream.

“I’d wanted something unique, and this water feature was it,” says the 56-year-old geriatrician, as we walk the ‘auwai, now filled with colorful koi and lined with rocks, running across his front yard. “It brings people back to the old days, how ancient waterways can mix with modern development within a harmonious environment. It really defines Nuuanu.”

Read the rest of this wonderful article on the early Hawaii irrigation ditches ‘auwai in Nuuanu Valley here.

 

Hawaii Community Foundation Releases Fresh Water “Blueprint for Action” for Hawai’i

Hawai‘i has been blessed with consistent rainfall, advantageous geology, and high-quality drinking water stores for centuries. Recent findings, however, have raised concern about long-term fresh water security for our Islands. University of Hawai‘i and other scientists have documented troubling trends including reduced rainfall, higher evaporation rates, and declining stream flows in recent decades. These findings, coupled with the demand of an ever-increasing population, suggest that Hawai‘i is entering an era of fresh water uncertainty.

The Hawai‘i Fresh Water Initiative (Initiative) was launched in 2013 to bring multiple, diverse parties together to develop a forward-thinking and consensus-based strategy to increase water security for the Hawaiian Islands. Organized by the independent, nonprofit Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), the Initiative relied on a blue ribbon advisory panel of individuals (Hawai‘i Fresh Water Council or Council) with deep knowledge of water and a collaborative spirit to articulate a vision for a more secure and sustainable water future based on shared values, and shared sacrifice. This Blueprint is the result of their work, and provides Hawai‘i policy and decision-makers with a set of solutions that have broad, multi-sector support in the fresh water community that should be adopted over the next three years to put Hawai‘i on a path toward water security. The Blueprint also builds on the good work, findings, and recommendations over the years by preceding stewards of Hawai‘i’s most important resource.

To achieve the ambitious goal of 100 mgd in additional fresh water capacity, the group outlined three aggressive water strategy areas and individual targets that the public and private sectors must work together to achieve by 2030:

 

  • Conservation: Improve the efficiency of our population’s total daily fresh groundwater water use rate by 8% from the current 330 gallons per day/person to 305 gallons per day/person.1 By 2030, this goal will provide 40 mgd in increased water availability.

 

  • Recharge: Increase Hawai‘i’s ability to capture rainwater in key aquifer areas by improving storm water capture and nearly doubling the size of our actively protected watershed areas.2 By 2030, this goal will provide 30 mgd in increased water availability.

 

  • Reuse: More than double the amount of wastewater currently being reused in the Islands to 50 mgd.3 By 2030, this goal will provide an additional 30 mgd in increased water availability.

The Fresh Water Council distilled nearly two years of research and analysis into a single goal: creating 100 million gallons per day (mgd) in additional, reliable fresh water capacity for our islands by 2030.

 

Read the HFC’s  Blueprint for Action here…