Commission delegates chair to sign joint funding agreement with USGS for FY2026 monitoring; adds new rainfall and stream gauges

The Commission on Water Resource Management authorized the chairperson to enter into a joint funding agreement (JFA) with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to support statewide hydrologic monitoring in federal fiscal year 2026.

Aaron Scott of the commission’s Stream Protection and Management Branch presented the item and described it as the annual cooperative monitoring agreement that supports long‑term records for rainfall, groundwater and streamflow. Scott said the state benefits from a one‑time federal infusion of $250,000 that will offset some operating costs and buy equipment to add and expand stations. "We are beneficiaries of a one time infusion of $250,000 at the federal level," he said, and some of this year’s federal money will fund next year’s operation costs.

Scott described multiple planned additions and changes to the monitoring network: two new rainfall stations (one in the Puuo area collocated with a long‑running Honopō station and one on Molokai at the Guillepu‘u deep monitoring well), addition of North Kohala index stream gauges to serve farmers and in‑stream users, a Waikoloa stream gauge in South Kohala to monitor natural flow above diversions, conversion of a Waihe River low‑flow station on Maui to a USGS real‑time station, and reestablishing a continuous record station in the East Maui (Puuo) area that had operated until the 1950s. Scott said many of the stations have long continuous records dating back to 1919 and that collocating stations with USGS sites reduces operating costs.

Scott and USGS staff explained monitoring terms and uses. "Natural flow means unregulated. There are no upstream diversions," Scott said when commissioners asked about the difference between natural and low‑flow stations. He described low‑flow stations as measuring the lower range of the hydrograph — the flows most relevant to in‑stream flow standards and downstream users — and noted that continuous monitoring is used to calculate mean daily flow (the metric typically applied when evaluating whether in‑stream flow standards are being met). Scott also explained that continuous monitoring (rating models and stage‑discharge relationships) provides a long record to evaluate trends, while field measurements provide snapshots useful for specific water‑balance calculations.

USGS staff Madison and Chris LaVotte joined on Zoom and offered technical support; LaVotte said he was assisting the Pacific Islands office during staffing transitions. Commissioners asked technical and implementation questions about station siting, data intervals (many stations record at 5‑ or 15‑minute intervals), and how monitoring would inform in‑stream flow standard enforcement and drought questions.

Staff recommended, and the commission approved, three actions: (1) authorize the chair to sign the JFA with USGS for FY2026, (2) delegate authority to the chair to modify the monitoring‑station list provided there is no increase in cost to the commission, and (3) find the agreement exempt from preparation of an environmental assessment under HRS Chapter 343 based on an existing DLNR exemption list. The motion to approve staff’s recommendation was moved and seconded; commissioners voted aye and the motion passed with five votes.

Commissioners and staff said the expanded network will be an important tool for tracking water availability, supporting in‑stream flow standards and answering public complaints about diversions in near‑real time.