Decision on Maui aquifer deferred

By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press

The state's Commission on Water Resource Management voted yesterday to defer designating Maui's Waihee aquifer as a state ground water management area, at least until January, despite concerns raised by environmentalists.

However, the commission restricted the county's daily pumping there to an average 4 million gallons, acknowledging a potential risk that taking more could raise the level of brackish water under the aquifer's lens of clean water.

The commission's staff recommended deferring the water management area designation until it works with federal agencies and the county Department of Water Supply to get more accurate measurements on the aquifer's true level, a job it expects to complete by January.

In September, new benchmark measurements by the National Geodetic Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey determined that the Waihee aquifer's water level was 2.55 feet lower than reported in 1989.

That suggested previous measurements that put the aquifer water level at 7 feet above mean sea level in reality meant the water level was less than 5 feet above mean sea level.

In November of 2002, after determining that both the Waihee and much larger Iao aquifers were threatened by increasing water demands, the commission set an automatic trigger for designating the Waihee aquifer a state management area if the water level fell below 6 feet above sea level.

The designation would set up a state permit application and approval system for any new water users.

Kapua Sproat of Earthjustice, which represents the Maui Meadows Homeowners Association that raised concerns about the health of the Iao and Waihee aquifers in 2001, urged the commission to initiate the management area immediately.

"If you folks designate today, that doesn't mean the state takes over," she said. "That only starts the process and it's going to take a whole year."

In response to commission Chairman Peter Young's observation that there is no evidence of increased salinity at present pumping levels, Sproat said there's a lag time for the saltier water to rise in the aquifer.