KAHULUI -- An informal citizens' group came up with a list of things Mauians could do to reduce the pressure on the Iao aquifer at its first working meeting Friday.
If withdrawals from Iao are not reduced, the State Water Resources Commission could ``designate'' or take control of the aquifer.
State Sen. Avery Chumbley said, ``There's nothing the state can do to help us in the Iao aquifer that we can't do.''
The task force was created at the last commission meeting on Maui, when Terryl Vencl, executive director of the Maui Hotel Association, asked commissioners whether citizen action would be helpful. She said at Friday's meeting at the offices of the Maui Chamber of Commerce that the task force is not a hotel association venture, nor is it a mouthpiece for the resort operators.
In fact, no hotel operators are on the panel.
Members included representatives of the joint venture that financed the last expansion of the Iao water system: Chumbley for C. Brewer; Warren Suzuki for Maui Land & Pineapple Co.; Clyde Murashige for Wailea Resort; and Garret Hew for Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation.
Also Roy Hardy of the commission staff; Ellen Kraftsow, a planner in the Department of Water Supply; Board of Water Supply Chairman Dorvin Leis; Eassie Miller and Steve Parabicoli of the county Wastewater Reclamation Division; James Kumagai, a consultant to the water department; and Dave DeLeon, an administrative assistant to the mayor.
Members with no other official connections to the water system were Don Medeiros of Maui Economic Opportunity, Mark White, Hugh Starr, Brian Miskae (a former county planning director), Nolan Perreira, Vencl and Lynne Woods of the chamber.
The dual goal of the working group is to help the water department preserve the aquifer and keep consumption down.
Leis said the ultimate solution is ``to provide more source.'' But that takes both money and time, and he hoped the working group could ``get out to the public so they have a clear understanding of what the real problem is.
``Source is the main thing. Conservation plays into it very importantly,'' he said.
Steps that could have an immediate effect (that is, show results within three to six months) are:
Low-flow devices in domestic plumbing. Parabicoli said an existing program already is showing dramatic savings.
Detection and correction of leaks. No one knows how much water is being lost, but estimates range into millions of gallons per day.
(The state commission wants the take from Iao reduced to 18 million gallons a day, or 90 percent of its sustainable capacity. Current withdrawals are somewhat short of 20 mgd.)
Incentives. Paying consumers to cut their demand.
Use it or lose it zoning. The water department is required to have available water for land uses approved by the county; old, moribund land designations place a contingent demand on the department that complicates planning.
Creating a balance sheet of water uses, future demands and sources to assist in planning.
Tapping the Iao Ditch. The money for this project has been spent but the state Department of Health has not approved this surface source for drinking use.
Kraftsow noted that the water coming out of the filters is cleaner already than the groundwater sources used in many communities, but the Health Department is asking for even more stringent treatments. Also, the issue of swimming in the stream has not been settled.
Intermediate-term approaches include:
Using reclaimed water from wastewater treatment plants.
Restrictions or bans on issuing new meters. (This is an intermediate, rather than immediate, solution, because it would require a new rule, which takes time.)
Re-examining existing infrastructure. There are wells in the Iao aquifer that are not being pumped.
Long-term proposals are:
Opening new sources. Tapping East Maui aquifers is the main goal of the water board but a lawsuit over the environmental impact statement has delayed this project.
Recharging aquifers. Hew said this has been successfully done on the Mainland. During heavy rains, millions of gallons flow through gulches to the sea.
If this wasted water could be impounded temporarily, much water would sink into the ground, topping up the groundwater source.
More storage. Either tanks or reservoirs.
Higher rates. New rates are in effect and for the first time they include a high tier for big users, designed to create an incentive to reduce consumption.
The task force suggested even higher conservation rates could be enacted.
Purchasing water from holders of permits. This would mean mostly the plantations and would have an impact on their operations.
Desalination. Very expensive.
Dual systems. Since up to 90 percent of county drinking water is not used for drinking or cooking, a double system could deliver lower quality water for irrigation or perhaps also washing machines, etc. (Such as system is now under way on the Upper Kula system.)
The task force plans future sessions.
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Psy 412 Miami University. Last revised: . This document has been accessed times since July 15, 1997. Comments & Questions to R. Sherman .