The Commission on Water Resource Management is revisiting the amount of water it allows to be diverted from streams in Waikoloa on Hawaiʻi Island.
For more than 75 years, Hawaiʻi County and Parker Ranch have been diverting water from streams in the area to support surrounding communities with water for drinking and agriculture.
Now, the commission is considering requiring more water to remain in the stream to support “in-stream uses,” such as wildlife habitat, recreation, and traditional and customary Hawaiian practices.
Water Commission hydrologist Ayron Strauch said there are alternatives to stream diversion in Waikoloa, including two groundwater wells, large-capacity water reservoirs and the unused Upper Hāmākua ditch system.
Strauch said the restoration of mauka-to-makai stream flow in Waikoloa would support an abundance of traditional agricultural and cultural uses of water.
“The Lālāmilo Field System, if you’re not aware, is one of the largest and mostly in-tact archeological sites demonstrating habitation and agricultural practices including irrigated agriculture with an extensive ʻauwai system for wetland kalo production,” Strauch said.
“Similarly, on Kohākohau, the Waiaka Agricultural Complex demonstrates extensive terracing, habitation, and ʻauwai complex,” he said.
“And then further down the Waiʻulaʻula Estuary in Pelekane Bay has numerous habitations, ʻauwai and agricultural sites. It’s a very historic site, and an important fishing area with numerous heiau,” Strauch said.
All of this information is included in a report by Water Commission staff, who will be in Waimea tonight to collect input and prepare recommendations to commissioners in the coming months.
All interested people are urged to attend the community meeting at the Waimea Community Center beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The Draft Instream Flow Standard Assessment Report on Waikoloa is available online. The Water Commission will continue to accept written testimony until May 2, 2024.
