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Ha’iku Aquifer Research Project

Goals and Background for Project

The Ha‘ikū Community Association (HCA) recently entered into a partnership with the University of Hawai’i (UH) on a research project, here in Ha‘ikū. The goal of this research is to learn more about the hydrology of Ha‘ikū, including both ground and surface water. Water is a precious resource for all of Maui and climate change will likely affect it, a fact that will likely impact all of Maui at some point. The HCA believes we will be able to make better choices about our usage of water if we know more about the overall system. This will allow us to answer questions such as: How will existing Ha‘ikū wells be affected by prolonged droughts, and what is the practical usable capacity of our aquifer in the face of climate change and future needs?

In our partnership with UH, HCA will help organize and obtain funding for a UH graduate student, Brandon Bees, to work under the guidance of UH Sea Grant and Water Resources Research Center to analyze the hydrology of the Ha‘ikū aquifer. HCA will also help organize volunteers and participation of well owners. Brandon will be doing the heavy lifting of analyzing the data.

The initial focus will be on ground water but we believe that surface water is also an important issue, as well as the interactions between the two. Therefore, our hope is to expand the study to include both of these areas.

The timeframe for this project is to start gathering data in September 2022 and have most of the data accumulated within one year. The second year will mostly be analyzing the data, and the results will be published by Brandon as his Master’s thesis, completed at the end of year two (2024).

During this time HCA will be working to train volunteers to help gather stream and well water samples, make some measurements, raise funds, and work with participating property owners who have water resources. We hope the fund raising is successful and we can increase the breadth and depth of our understanding of the Haiku aquifer with additional studies.

Contacting the Project

If you would like to volunteer, help fund this project, or participate as a water resource owner, please contact us at: eastmauieco@gmail.com.

FAQS

Water FAQ

The goal is to collect data in order to better understand the Haiku water resource, so we can make well informed decisions about our water availability. This is particularly important now, as climate change is affecting rainfall.
The Ha‘ikū aquifer is a hydrological region defined by the State CWRM (Commission on Water Resource Management). It is wedge shaped, with the peak of the wedge above Olinda, running all the way to the shoreline, and bounded by Maliko and Kakipi Gulches on the west and east. It supplies much of the water for Ha‘ikū residents (except those east of Kakipi Gulch or on catchment). The aquifer is essentially ground water but streams and springs are also an important part of Ha‘ikū hydrology and interact with the aquifer in complex ways.
It is barely related. Most EMI water comes from state watershed land further east. Some Ha‘ikū streams are also diverted, so the relation between the surface water and the ground water may be examined.
A couple of ways: We hope it enters into decision making about Ha‘ikū water resources by policy-making bodies. It will also be publicly available information that will help inform the residents of Ha‘ikū about our local water resources and how climate change and diversion may affect things.
Property owners who have a water resource (stream, spring, or well) can participate by sharing history, and allowing the field technicians to gather a small water sample. We are also seeking volunteers to help with the gathering. And lastly, it takes funds to make all this work so donations are needed especially for laboratory testing. If you can help in any of these ways, please contact us at eastmauieco@gmail.com.
It won’t affect you at all. Any published data will be scrubbed of identifying information so it is not associated with any individual or property. The data will only be used for hydrology research of the region, not of individual properties.