State water staff favors Maui action on aquifer

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — The staff of the Commission on Water Resource Management has reversed its position and is now recommending that the state panel assert authority over the 'Iao and North Waihe'e aquifers to protect the integrity of Maui's drinking water.

The commission will meet at the state office building in Wailuku at 9:30 a.m. today to consider designating the aquifers as groundwater management areas.

One year ago, the commission's staff suggested that the designation process was unnecessary because pumping levels were well under the estimated yield levels that ensure the sustainability of the aquifers. But the panel voted to go through with it anyway following public testimony that warned of threats to the resource and questioned estimates of the sustainable yield.

Since last year the staff has learned that approvals for future development may lead to demands that exceed sustainable yields, said Linnel Nishioka, deputy director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

In a memo to the commission, Nishioka cites "a lack of proper planning'' by Maui officials, as well as "the tentative nature of alternative sources'' for recommending designation. A plan to drill more wells in the Ha'iku area has been stymied by lawsuits.

The staff also found that 'Iao and neighboring North Waihe'e meet at least one designation criterion: that existing development approvals could cause the maximum rate of withdrawal from groundwater sources to reach 90 percent of their sustainable yields.

'Iao meets one other designation criterion: that existing groundwater withdrawals are endangering the stability of the aquifer due to encroaching salt water.

It was the Maui Meadows Homeowners Association in Kihei that asked for state intervention last year, saying it feared damage to its main source of drinking water from new development and overpumping. The petition asked the state to take control of the aquifers to ensure that water quality is not compromised.

Designating the systems as groundwater management areas would allow the state to better monitor the amount of water taken from the aquifers and ensure their sustainable yields are not exceeded.

The Maui County Council has asked the commission to defer action until it can analyze the impact of a new mayoral administration and a charter amendment that places the Maui County Department of Water Supply under direct control of the mayor and the council.

On previous occasions, county officials fended off several attempts to designate the 'Iao Aquifer, citing home-rule issues.