Kauai water plan update: consultants find full‑buildout below sustainable yield, community and DHHL raise gaps

The Commission on Water Resource Management received a briefing Sept. 17 on the Kauai Water Use and Development Plan update and was told the county intends to request formal adoption at the commission’s October meeting.

Katie Roth, planning program manager with the commission, introduced the item and said the current session was an informational briefing. Consultants Amanda Waki (Fukunaga & Associates) and Jason Kagimoto (Kauai Department of Water) summarized the plan’s scope: the county plan is a county‑level component of the Hawaii Water Plan that inventories water resources and existing uses, projects future demand based on zoning and adopted land‑use plans, and compares those estimates to CWRM sustainable yield values. The consultants emphasized the plan is a high‑level land‑use assessment and does not authorize use or evaluate project‑level infrastructure (that work falls to the Water System Investment Plan).

Presenters said the full‑buildout approach is intentionally conservative — estimating maximum theoretical development from current zoning and adopted plans — and reported that, at that high level, every one of Kauai’s 13 aquifer system areas had projected full‑buildout demand below the sustainable‑yield values established in the 2019 Water Resource Protection Plan. Amanda Waki said, 'The Kauai Water use and development plan is a high level evaluation,' and stressed the plan’s limitations: agricultural demands are evaluated separately, surface‑water reporting is incomplete, and sustainable yield should not be equated to developable groundwater.

County staff and consultants described outreach since 2015, noting multiple stakeholder advisory meetings, public meetings on Kauai and two DHHL beneficiary outreach sessions in Anahola and Keʻehi. Jason Kagimoto said the department has added more discussion in the plan on climate change, DHHL water reservations and surface‑water reservoir data in response to comments.

Community members, Native Hawaiian beneficiaries and several commissioners urged the commission not to treat the high‑level finding as the last word. Sherry Cummings, a DHHL beneficiary from Anahola, raised legal and reservation concerns and said the beneficiaries 'are not accepting it' in its current form. Agricultural and taro‑farming speakers and county planning staff stressed that the draft omits key agricultural demand inputs and traditional/customary practices. One commenter pointed to a 2021 agricultural water use assessment that allocates 3,900 gallons per acre for diversified agriculture and warned the draft lacks sufficient incorporation of that work.

Commissioners pressed staff on how the plan will remain a 'living document.' Staff and the Kauai Water Department said triggers for piecemeal updates include adoption of the 2021 agricultural plan, updated sustainable yields from the Water Resource Protection Plan, and significant community plan or zoning changes; Katie Roth said the submittal for adoption next month will include the comments received and proposed responses and may include conditions of adoption.

Next steps: staff said they plan to submit the adoption packet next month and will post comment responses and supporting materials. The commission signaled it will hear the project again at its Oct. 31 meeting and encouraged written testimony in advance.