City facility maintenance briefs council on stream maintenance challenges and proposed stormwater master planning

The Honolulu Department of Facility Maintenance on July 23 told the City Council Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation and Technology that aging streams and stormwater infrastructure, limited equipment and operator resources, and staffing vacancies constrain the city’s ability to maintain drainage and stream channels.

Gene Albano, director and chief engineer for the Department of Facility Maintenance, summarized the department’s role and said stormwater has been less resourced than drinking water or wastewater. The department presented current maintenance practices, permitting constraints and a proposed three‑part master‑planning process that it says will support long‑term asset management.

Chief Tyler Sugihara and drainage engineer Thomas Takeuchi described how routine stream maintenance is carried out under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits and state water‑quality certifications. Takeuchi said the city’s stream maintenance permit issued in September 2019 covered 92 streams and had a five‑year term that was administratively extended while the Army Corps updates permit rules; another dredging permit issued in February 2022 remains effective through its five‑year term.

“Some of our city easements that get access to these streams are then removed because of development,” Albano said, adding that limited public access points and changing development patterns complicate maintenance scheduling.

Department staff showed examples of permitted “stream‑out” dredging where long‑reach excavators remove sand plugs at stream mouths and non‑permitted maintenance where crews clear vegetation and debris from drier channel segments. Staff said the city must notify the Corps and the Department of Health for permitted maintenance and that emergency stream‑mouth openings — to reduce imminent flood risk — are coordinated with the Department of Emergency Management.

Randall Wakimoto, program administrator for stormwater quality, presented cost estimates and planning needs. He said the city currently spends about $116 million per year on stormwater services (capital and operations) and projected that near‑term needs could raise the annual average to about $173 million. Wakimoto said deferred maintenance and emergency repairs are more expensive than proactive replacement: unplanned emergency response can cost seven to eight times more than proactive work.

Wakimoto outlined three complementary planning efforts the department is pursuing: a drainage/flooding and climate‑adaptation master plan funded from the city’s Climate Resiliency Fund (CRF), a condition assessment of pipes and culverts funded from stormwater operating budgets, and a green stormwater infrastructure plan funded with EPA Clean Water State Revolving Funds. The department said it hopes to execute the drainage/climate contract and the asset‑condition work in the coming year and to begin the green‑infrastructure planning toward a loan agreement in 2026.

Road Division officials said progress has been made on staffing: vacancy rates in road maintenance have fallen from about 45% to roughly 33% over two years, and the department is hiring equipment operator trainers and pursuing in‑house commercial driver’s license certification to accelerate workforce readiness. The division also reported recent purchases of long‑reach excavators and plans to add a second long‑reach machine in November to increase maintenance capacity.

The department is implementing CityWorks as a work‑order and asset‑management platform to track inspections, materials, equipment use and labor time for stream and drainage work. Staff said CityWorks will help quantify resources needed for future schedules and that historical gaps — including a long pause in permitted heavy‑equipment work while permits were renewed — left the department catching up.

Council members asked about: coordinating maintenance where jurisdiction is split between state and county, scheduling and triggers for emergency stream‑mouth openings, and whether increased emergency calls disrupt regular maintenance plans. Department staff said emergency authorizations from DEM are typically granted within hours for imminent flood risk, and crews reprioritize work as conditions require.

Albano and staff asked the committee for continued council support and funding to allow the master planning work to proceed and to reduce emergency repairs by investing in condition assessments and prioritized capital projects. The department said better data and sustained funding will allow more proactive maintenance and address the long‑term backlog of aging drainage infrastructure.