WRRC Seminar
October 20, 1:00pm - 2:00pmMānoa Campus, Zoom Meeting
What Does Sustainable Yield Sustain? What (and Who) is Left Out? by Dr. Jonathan Likeke Scheuer
KahÄlÄwai Consulting
The Hawaiâi Water Code mandates groundwater management by the determination of Sustainable Yields (SY), a modification of the âsafe yieldâ concept forwarded over a century ago. The Water Commission, trustees of the water resources trust, have not changed their basic approach to setting SY since it was adopted in the 1990 Water Resources Protection Plan. Nearly every aquiferâs SY in Hawaiâi is regulated assuming the area has a single unconfined basal aquifer, and the Robust Analytical Model (RAM) is applied. The Commission is to be commended for regulating groundwater withdrawal and not setting SY equal to recharge. However, the approach has often failed the design goal of preventing rising chlorides in wells, led to decades of litigation, and in many areas failed to protect Public Trust uses of water. Frequent debates across Hawaiâi over the âcorrect SY" for particular areas distract from the structural shortcomings of the current SY approach. Continued universal application of RAM-driven SY favors resource extraction over Public Trust interests, and climate change driven reductions in recharge will increase disputes. A new approach to fulfilling the Codeâs mandates is neededâguided by community identification of what needs to be sustained, with an explicit consideration of justice and grounded in current science. Specific âcorrect SYâ discussions will be reviewed to illustrate these points and suggest pathways forward.
Zoom Meeting:
https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/98530756761
Meeting ID: 985 3075 6761
Passcode: 969274
Event Sponsor
WRRC, Mānoa Campus
More Information
Keri Kodama, 808 956-3097, kodamak8@hawaii.edu