Honolulu Board of Water Supply

The Committee on Housing, Sustainability, Economy and Health is scheduled to hear a recently introduced resolution on Tuesday that would reaffirm a 2003 city policy against placing landfills above sources of drinking water.

The state Commission on Water Resource Management just approved an Oʻahu-specific plan to guide water use until 2040. It's part of an ongoing update to the larger, statewide Hawaiʻi Water Plan that hasn’t been changed in about 25 years.

At the Honolulu Board of Water Supply meeting on Aug. 26, experts hired by the utility testified that a Navy contractor failed to properly follow water testing and sampling procedures in the monitoring of the Red Hill water system. Catherine Cruz learned more about the discrepancy.

Community discussion continues about what to do about contaminants found in water samples from ʻAiea well; The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation celebrates its 50th anniversary

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply says it is worried about contaminants detected in an ʻAiea well that the agency shut down as a precaution immediately following the 2021 Red Hill fuel spill. This issue is expected to come up at several water-related meetings this week.

State Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito discusses efforts to stabilize the condo insurance market; A new class of chemicals has been detected in water samples from the ʻAiea well

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is asking residents to fill out a questionnaire about water access and affordability. The public has till Sept. 15 to complete the questionnaire.

The federal government is sending Oʻahu around $19 million for a facility to turn seawater into fresh water. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation recently announced a $142 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to “advance drought resilience and boost water supplies” across the country.

The EPA just announced new maximum levels of contaminants in drinking water. The new rules cover what are known as forever chemicals, PFAS. The Conversation talked to Erwin Kawata from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply about PFAS detections on Oʻahu and the new federal rules.

State health officials over the weekend flagged the additional detection of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in a Waialua drinking well. The compounds of these "forever chemicals" don’t break down easily and can be traced to materials used on plantations in the past and to firefighting foam used by the military.