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Wai Dashboard

Planning and action to restore the ahupua'a system through resource management and recharge the watersheds to feed the hydrological system that leads to Mokuhinia including Wai (Water System) dashboard

Project Description
  • Create a public dashboard for current water levels, testing results, flow rate, and ecosystem issues *ideally in real time 
  • Identify an intermediary (3rd party) to develop a West Maui water data system (see example)
  • Promote accountability for all stakeholders 
  • Develop agreements/policies to assure equitable access to defined data 
  • Build collective will and agreement of shared priorities
Purpose
  • Ready access to data to inform water resource managers, land owners and operators, water users and the communitysome text
    • Provision of evidence to be incorporated into federal grant applications
    • Real-time data to inform climate change response management
    • Track the impacts of the R1 project and the West Maui Water Management Plan
  • Provide a collective resource to inform ongoing stewardship efforts and guide long-term planning efforts and identify opportunities for efficiencies and strategic partnerships.
  • An educated and more empowered community

Alignment with West Maui Community Plan (WMCP)

Goal 2.1 - Ready and resilient systems.

Policy 2.1.4 - Prioritize projects that provide multiple benefits from resilience actions.

Policy 2.1.10 - Require public water systems, and to the extent legally allowable, private water systems to develop in a manner facilitating potential interconnection or integrated management to optimize pumpage, mitigate saltwater intrusion, prevent adverse impacts to streams, preserve regional resources, and preserve traditional and customary rights protected under the Hawai‘i State Consultation, Article XII, Section 7.

‍Interdependencies and Roadblocks
  • Access to Data
  • Transparency from private water purveyors
  • Identify and address liability concerns
Next Steps
Project Details

Cost Estimate:  

  • $120,000 start up, ~$50k/yr maintenance                        
  • Date of Estimate: 9/2/2024
  • Ryan Longman out of East West Center, developer of Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal recommends hiring a post-masters position and collaborate with UHITS team and UH Water Resources Research Center to: some text
    • Identify user needs and data sources 
    • Develop the data streams, data visualizations, and web interface. 
    • Update data and maintain cyber infrastructure.  
  • Based on Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal: 
    • More than $1.5M for purchase of equipment/Mesonet stations primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), with additional funds from CWRM and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply
    • Cost of installation come from the UH Water Resources Research Center and Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship at UH Manoa
    • Managing and making the data available is estimated at $500,000 per year
Potential Funding Sources:

Existing funding:

  • State funding - Red Hill
  • Possible existing data portals/dashboards and personnel to develop and maintain a Wai component (HCDP?)
  • Funding from water departments for existing limited water data - could be repurposed and consolidated in the dashboard.

Potential funding: 

  • Hawai‘i Community Foundation - Fresh Water Initiative seed funding
  • U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
  • U.S. Geological Survey, Water Use Data and Research Program (WUDRP) (State depts are eligible, $200k available)
  • NOAA
  • National Science Foundation
  • Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) (e.g., if this project can overlap enough with their data portal to be merged)

Project Lead

Project Partners

Other ERC Projects

Back to ERC

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Key Highlights

ERC members share from the ERC process:

  • The opportunity to get to know and work with others, who they normally would not meet, in meaningful ways
  • A new way of doing business together for shared goals: Time to build foundations and relationships, to learn, and to think broadly about what Maui needs for long-term recovery has been really appreciated and is crucial for real impact
  • Witnessing a de-siloing of government (across levels) and experiencing working with agencies and across sectors provides hope
  • Mayor Bissen announced that there will be private funding to support two years of project management, so relationships, new ways of doing business together, and the projects will continue through implementation, and our administration will continue to support the people of the Maui and the County after this warm hand-off


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