Commission approves development of first‑generation adaptive management plan for Keauhou aquifer

Commission on Water Resource Management Chair Dawn Chang on Tuesday directed staff to proceed with a first‑generation adaptive management plan for the Keauhou Aquifer System, a move the commission approved 6–0 after hours of staff briefing, commissioner questions and public testimony.

The plan is intended to create a structured monitoring and decision framework for groundwater in the Keauhou region on Hawai‘i island. Deputy Director Kira Kahahane told the commission the AMP would be iterative and returned to the commission for review of successive drafts and final approval.

Kahahane said the staff recommendation was clear: “our staff recommendation is that this commission approve the development of a first generation adaptive management plan for the Keauhou Aquifer System area as I’ve just described above and retain authority over the final approval of the plan.” The commission voted to accept that recommendation.

Why it matters: Keauhou underlies culturally important shoreline ecosystems and public trust uses and has received repeated attention because of development pressure. The AMP is intended to translate scientific monitoring into practical management triggers and potential conditions on future well and pump permits while informing county water‑use planning.

What the plan will do: Kahahane and staff described the AMP as a standard adaptive‑management cycle — define goals and indicators, develop monitoring and modeling, set management triggers, and create an assessment/feedback loop. Staff told commissioners the first generation plan will prioritize a small set of sentinel monitoring sites, baseline indicators for groundwater‑dependent ecosystems and traditional customary practices, and preliminary management triggers that can be refined in later generations.

Funding and statutory direction: Kahahane said Act 189, signed in June, appropriated $200,000 for the current fiscal year and $200,000 for the next fiscal year for a Keauhou monitoring pilot project and related AMP work. The act directs data collection for groundwater levels…