Something doesn't make sense here. O'ahu, which always must take care in tapping its limited water supply even under the best of circumstances, apparently has enough drinking water available that permits can be approved for two golf courses being planned in Waiawa.

That's the message we can read from the state Commission on Water Resource Management, which approved the pumping of about 1 million gallons of potable water a day to irrigate two 18-hole links envisioned as part of a 3,700-acre residential complex.

The commission gave the OK based on its assessment that because there's enough water in the aquifer to sustain the project and irrigation is a permitted use, there's no basis for rejecting the applicant, Waiawa Development LLC.

That may be so, but there's something terribly wrong with an island community that can't lay down sensible policies on the use of limited resources.

Instead, Hawai'i seems slavishly bound by archaic rules that it clearly has outgrown.

Wake up. It's time for new, more rational water policies. In fact, that time arrived long ago. Hawai'i can no longer afford to be less than stringent about managing our water supply. And using drinking water to irrigate golf courses is wholly irresponsible.

Wastewater already is reclaimed for irrigation use in Honouliuli, so technology is not the problem. There also are plans in the works for a similar plant near Wahiawa to provide nonpotable water for Central O'ahu irrigation purposes such as the twin golf courses.

If logic were the guiding force here, the plant would be in place and nonpotable water would be available before the go-ahead is issued.

Given that the Honolulu Board of Water Supply is constantly urging residents to conserve water because of an earlier drought, logic seems absent altogether.

Issuing water permits in this piecemeal fashion may pass legal muster, but it is surely poor public policy. If the commission's role is to be an authority independent of county water boards with an eye on our long-term sustenance, it must take a broad, comprehensive look at how drinking water can be managed for the future.

Right now, that just doesn't seem to be working.

And if, as the commission says, current rules allow precious drinking water to be piped onto golf courses and parks when better alternatives exist, those rules should be changed.

The more critical part of the Waiawa development is the housing: O'ahu is in dire need of residential units. And Gentry has indicated that the housing portion of the project would proceed, with or without the golf courses.

It's too bad our state's water stewards aren't operating with the same clarity of purpose.