If North Kona were built up to the full extent that current land uses allow, the developments would draw 28 million gallons of water a day from the Keauhou aquifer — slightly less than twice what is drawn now. ADVERTISING
If North Kona were built up to the full extent that current land uses allow, the developments would draw 28 million gallons of water a day from the Keauhou aquifer — slightly less than twice what is drawn now.
That would put demand at 74 percent of sustained yield, according to a first phase of a water use and development plan update completed by the Hawaii County Department of Water Supply. There was no timeline spelling out when that level of development might be reached.
The study is part of a county response to a petition filed by the National Park Service in late 2013 to put water pumping permits for the Keauhou aquifer under control of the state Commission on Water Resource Management. Permits are currently controlled by the county DWS.
CWRM generally gave a thumbs up to the county’s analysis on Monday, saying that future demand has to be understood if the aquifer is to be managed as a public trust.
“I’m happy to see this moving along,” said Commissioner Jonathan Starr in a Kailua-Kona meeting of the body on Monday. “It’s a much improved process.”
A second phase of the update will also examine well placement and how infrastructure will be financed.
Starr’s approval was only partial, however, and came after he grilled the county on its numbers and methodology for determining how much water it would need — at one point calling the process a farce.
In an interview later, Starr acknowledged he could be harsh, but said that was because he sought a high standard.
The process of determining future impacts to the aquifer “is 1,000 times better than when we started,” but Hawaii County is far behind Oahu in having “an organic and integrated process” for considering water uses in their entirety — including the needs of nature, cultural needs for the water and future demands, Starr said. Additionally, Oahu is making strides to reduce per-person use through efficiency measures, “which I don’t see anywhere here,” he said.
“I am hoping it will continue to evolve,” Starr said.
Commission Chairwoman Suzanne Case applauded the latest round of information from the county as progress in the right direction.
“I think it’s an amazing amount of analysis and it’s an exciting step forward,” she said.
The commission also approved a Department of Hawaiian Home Lands request that CWRM set aside 3.4 million gallons a day for its future projects. It was the first time the department has made a water reservation request for an aquifer that was not already part of a state management area.
The law makes it clear that DHHL water rights come first, said Alan Murakami, community engagement director for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.
“Then there are all of the other competing uses which come after,” he said.
Murakami said it makes sense from a planning perspective to clarify Native Hawaiian water rights up front.
The commission also mulled a request by NPS to put only the coastal groundwater, or basal lens of the Keauhou aquifer, under state control. NPS policy analyst Peter Fahmy said the agency is in search of a solution that fits the problem — protecting the groundwater in the park.
“We believe you shouldn’t be constrained by these hydrologic boundaries to protect these public trust resources,” Fahmy told the commission. “You have the authority to designate a smaller management area. It’s not important what the boundaries are; it’s the objective of establishing that area: What are you trying to do?”
Case asked if monitoring could be set up to gauge the impact of pumping on groundwater levels in the park, as an alternative to creating even a smaller state water management area. But park hydrologist Paula Cutillo said agreements with the county on pumping couldn’t be applied to private developments putting in their own wells.
Cutillo said NPS has proposed that if pumping were to increase groundwater withdrawals above 2014 average conditions, then designation would be triggered automatically.
“We believe these resources are at or near the threshold,” Cuttillo said.
Pressed by Commissioner Milton Pavao on whether the park’s ponds are suffering from low groundwater levels, Cuttillo said: “They are relatively healthy and we would like to preserve those conditions.”
“So you don’t have any problems,” Pavao said. “You’re anticipating problems. You really don’t know (how much water you need). You’re saying you just want it to stay the way it is now.”
An attorney for the DWS said there is no rational or scientific basis for the petition to put the smaller area under CWRM. Instead, he said, the law allows the commission to designate an arbitrator to deal with disputes between parties over water. The provision would limit the conflict over the water to those directly impacted by pumping and those who wish to extract the water.
A decision had not yet been made and the meeting was ongoing at press time.
