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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 11:34 a.m., Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Aquifer’s level two feet lower than thought

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

WAILUKU, Maui — New data from an ongoing study of the Waihe'e aquifer indicate the benchmark upon which water levels are based is two feet lower than previously believed.

That does not mean the aquifer is in immediate jeopardy, said state Commission on Water Resource Management Deputy Director Ernest Lau. It does mean the commission will have to rethink an order it issued last November to place the Waihe'e aquifer under state control if the water table level were to drop to a trigger point that had been established using data that now appear to be incorrect.

Lau said the aquifer’s groundwater levels, pumping and chloride concentrations have remained stable over the past four years.

The previous benchmark for the Waihe'e water table level was 6 feet to 7.5 feet above sea level.

The commission had set the automatic trigger for designation as a state water resource management area at 6 feet above sea level, but Lau said yesterday that in light of new data showing a lower benchmark, the commission staff likely will recommend at an Oct. 29 meeting that action on designation be deferred until further study.

Jim Williamson of the Maui Meadows Homeowners Association issued a statement yesterday through the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice saying the commission was going back on its promise by not complying with its own order to designate the Waihe'e aquifer if the 6-foot trigger was exceeded.

Fearing the Waihe'e and neighboring 'Iao aquifer were being depleted by unchecked development, the two groups had petitioned the state for designation of the resources, an action that would remove them from county control.

The 'Iao designation trigger for overpumping was exceeded in June, placing the resource under state control.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.