KIHEI - A public hearing before the Board of Water Supply on the Final Candidate Strategies Report for the Central Water District will be held at 5:30 p.m. today at the Kihei Community Center.
The report will become part of the county Water Use and Development Plan. The Central District includes the Department of Water Supply system from Makena to Maalaea, Wailuku and Kahului, and east to Paia and Waihee.
The full plan will eventually be presented to the Maui County Council.
According to the draft of the strategies report, water consumption in the Central District system is expected to grow from 22 million gallons per day in 2005 to 34 mgd in 2030.
The most promising strategies for increasing the supply include northward basal groundwater well development, eastward basal groundwater well development, Na Wai Eha surface water treatment, desalination of brackish groundwater and maximization of conservation and use of recycled wastewater.
Among the long-term resource acquisition strategies listed in the draft are monitoring Na Wai Eha surface water proceedings in the contested case before the state Commission on Water Resource Management, proceeding with negotiations and approvals for a surface water treatment plant to the extent possible pending determination of assurance of long-term water availability and price, investigating the feasibility of an alternative Na Wai Eha water treatment plant site, implementing conservation measures, studying the feasibility of expanding use of Kihei recycled wastewater and monitoring and preserving options of other long-term strategies.
The draft report is available at the Department of Water Supply on the fifth floor of the Kalana O Maui building at 200 S. High St. It also can be found online at www.mauiwater.org, under the Resources and Planning Division section.
Questions can be directed to the division by calling 244-8550.
