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Draft Waimānui regional plan update highlights water, ag and community infrastructure needs
Summary
DHHL planning staff presented a draft update to the Waimānui regional plan that lists beneficiary priorities including water access, subdivision commencement, homestead safety and a pilot agriculture/pastoral program. Staff will accept comments through Aug. 25 and plan to return to the commission for adoption.
DHHL planning staff on Aug. 18 presented a draft update to the Waimānui regional plan and identified beneficiary‑driven priorities for the area that spans homestead tracks from Pauahi to Ninēnē. The plan is now open for public comment through Aug. 25; staff said they will return to the commission seeking adoption once the comment period closes and any substantive edits are addressed.
The draft plan records the beneficiaries’ vision — a community “rooted in the old ways” that values kupuna wellbeing, cultural perpetuation, self‑sufficiency and collaboration. Planning staff reported an unusually high participation rate in the region’s priority‑project poll and presented the five top projects beneficiaries selected:
1) Waimānui Hawaiian Homestead community initiatives (infrastructure and community‑use development for the 161‑acre parcel adjacent to Kanaka ʻĀina); 2) equitable and sustainable water access, with particular reference to longstanding water challenges in Honokaʻia; 3) initiating subdivision commencement dates for Puʻuhonua and related areas; 4) a homestead safety and security program focused on wildfire mitigation and community access control; and 5) an agricultural and pastoral pilot program prioritizing peer‑to‑peer training and capacity building.
Planning staff said the water priority is especially urgent and pointed to litigation and legacy water‑rights complexities in Honokaʻia that complicate simple technical solutions. Beneficiaries also asked for grant and loan mechanisms that would allow funds to be spent inside older homesteads, a topic that surfaced in related DHHL program discussions earlier in the meeting.
The draft plan reflects regionally developed project profiles and a recommended sequence for DHHL staff support; the department will continue beneficiary consultation and, where appropriate, pursue engineering, environmental review, and funding steps for priority projects. The commission was asked to treat the draft as informational; DHHL staff will return with a final draft for formal adoption after the comment period closes.
Why it matters: The Waimānui update identifies near‑term, beneficiary‑chosen priorities that will shape DHHL resource allocation in the area — especially water infrastructure and homestead resiliency — and signals community support for agriculture and local economic activity.
