Hawaii County can stay in the driver’s seat of the Keauhou aquifer — but the reprieve is only temporary and comes with conditions.
After nine hours of testimony in Kailua-Kona on Wednesday, the state Commission on Water Resource Management delayed making a decision on whether to put the aquifer under its control. Instead, the body opted to extend an investigatory period until the end of May. In the meantime, the county and the National Park Service must collaborate to try to find alternatives to a state designation for the water source.
The Hawaii County Department of Water Supply must also provide the commission with an outline of how it plans to replace water sources, add transmission lines, improve infrastructure and make sure wells are properly spaced to reduce the risk of them taking too much water from around Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, which petitioned last year for state control of the aquifer.
The measures are needed to demonstrate that the county is being proactive in managing the resource and finding alternatives to some lower-level wells that have high chloride levels, commissioners said.
In the next six months, the commission will also be waiting for a revised development and water use plan for the area that more closely examines existing uses, and new legal and scientific findings can continue to be brought to light in that time, commissioners said.
“I believe the issues can be solved at the community level,” Commissioner Michael Buck said. “We’re not looking to solve all the problems in the next six months. We’re looking for progress. I’m really looking forward to seeing some good faith mediation.”
National park officials had urged the commission to move ahead quickly with the designation. If the commission delayed its decision, NPS officials urged that the delay not be indefinite. The park asked that new pump installation permits be deferred until a decision is reached. But that request was not part of the commission’s final motion, which passed five to one, with Milton Pavao abstaining.
Pavao was clearly against the designation of the aquifer, saying he was at a loss to understand how the park could claim that pumping from the aquifers above the park will harm resources.
“The scientists we’ve heard the last couple of months say the ponds are healthy. If it hasn’t had a detrimental effect in the last 25 years, I don’t see why it will from now on,” he said early in the meeting.
The park is concerned about the cumulative impacts of current and proposed wells on the basal aquifer, consultant Jonathan Scheuer responded, noting some wells are in the control of private development.
“If you took being proactive to that extent, nothing would get done,” Pavao said.
Mayor Billy Kenoi acknowledged the National Park Service legacy of protecting land, but chafed at the implication the county couldn’t handle its kuleana to protect the resource.
“Show me the science, the law, the violation,” he said, characterizing federal involvement in the aquifer as paternalistic. “I would be the first to hold the Department of Water Supply accountable. In this petition you get words like ‘threaten,’ ‘degradation,’ ‘imminent harm.’ Wow.”
“This island no exist in a national park. This park sits in our community,” said Kenoi, who called for a continuing dialog based on science, not ideology or political leanings.
“We are all environmentalists,” Kenoi said. “We are all cultural.”
Commissioner Jonathan Starr told Kenoi the sky did not fall when similar designations were put in place around the state. Instead, the designation led to greater coordination between the counties and the state.
“This happens on all the islands,” Commissioner Kamana Beamer said to Kenoi. “They get designated and people work together and that’s what I hope happens here. It’s not to be paternalistic. It’s for us to take care of our kuleana under the code. That is why we’re investigating this.”
The West Hawaii Council Chambers overflowed as onlookers listened to testimony, which started at 9 a.m. At 3:30 p.m., people were still on their feet in the back of the room. Out of more than 30 speakers, only five favored state control of the aquifer.
“It’s premature, the criteria for designation has not been met, the designation will stop our economy,” said Waimea Realtor Nancy Carr-Smith. “This is just how NPS does business.”
Residents, real estate agents and lineal descendants repeatedly used the word “premature” to describe the petition. While potential harm to the aquifer from future development is a fuzzy concept at best, the impacts to the economy and current and planned development projects would be real under state control, argued many, who were unconvinced the park is under threat.
New development projects would be unable to get water permits for at least a year while the existing users are sorted out and permitted, Water Program Manager Roy Hardy affirmed.
“If CWRM grants this petition, it will at best slow down and possibly stop projects like ours,” said Ann Bouslog, project manager of Kamakana Villages, a workforce housing initiative in Kealakehe.
Hardy told commissioners he believed it would be inappropriate to dismiss the petition, but that more time for study is needed before the commission acts. In an analysis of the petition, Hardy said the only species in the park that appear to be at risked from decreased freshwater flows in the park were damselflies. The rest of the species seem to have adapted well to fluctuations in salinity, he said.
NPS officials reiterated concerns about limited groundwater monitoring, and said the park’s concern is to regulate placement of wells. State oversight would put a mechanism in place to make sure cultural and environmental uses of water in the park are taken into account, NPS hydrologist Paula Cutillo said.
“Otherwise we are simply maximizing consumptive use to the detriment of native plants and animals,” Cutillo said.
Authorized use of land could lead to densities far in excess of what the aquifer could support in the future, Scheuer said.
“You need to look at the disconnect between the county’s goals for development in this area and the amount of water available,” Scheuer said.
But opponents of the designation said that planning documents such as the county General Plan are merely potential development scenarios. According to information presented by Hardy, it would take 67 years before pumping from the aquifer reached maximum sustainable yield.
Park Superintendent Tammy Duchesne said staff spent the last seven years engaging known stakeholders before pursuing the state water management area designation.
“No one has proposed an alternative framework that is legal and enforceable that protects public trust resources,” Duchesne said.
But the park and the county must now go back to the drawing board and see if that can change.
