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Water Commission outlines groundwater limits, monitoring gaps and need for more data
Summary
Commission on Water Resource Management staff reviewed how Hawaii manages freshwater: definitions of sustainable yield, designated water-management areas, monitoring gaps and planned deep monitoring wells. Presenters emphasized data shortfalls, climate impacts on recharge and prioritizing Lahaina for updated assessments.
Veil Fujii, planning-branch staff at the Commission on Water Resource Management, gave an overview of the commission’s responsibilities and the technical framework the state uses to manage freshwater.
The commission regulates freshwater quantity across public and private systems under the State Water Code and implements components of the Hawaii Water Plan, including long-range planning, conservation and drought work, and permitting for wells and stream diversions. “You know, nobody owns the water in Hawaii. The state is the trustee,” Fujii said, describing the commission’s role under the public-trust doctrine.
Why it matters: Commission staff said many resource-management decisions rely on scarce data. Fujii and other presenters described statewide counts (376 perennial streams, about 110 aquifer…
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