Planning

Staff at the Waimanalo Research Station, Oahu, Hawaii.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

To develop, coordinate, facilitate, and implement plans and programs that are proactive, achievable and which effectively and efficiently promote the Commission’s overall goals to protect and sustain water resources, protect water rights, and obtain maximum reasonable-beneficial use of the state’s water resources for the benefit of Hawaii’s current and future generations.

OUR VISION STATEMENT

To use the planning process to facilitate the sustainable and efficient use of water resources, identify potential conflicts and solutions, and promote the coordinated and integrated development and management of water resources to meet the economic, environmental and social needs of the state.

PLANNING GOALS

To carry out our mission and fulfill our vision, specific planning goals have been identified:

  • Conduct regular and systematic updates of the Hawaii Water Plan to achieve coordinated and integrated implementation of land use and water resource management policies and to ensure the long-term protection of water resources and appropriate recognition of water rights, public trust needs, and other public interest objectives.
  • Identify and promote water conservation and other demand-side management measures to avoid the need to develop additional water resources.
  • Facilitate timely and effective response to water shortage situations by developing and implementing plans to protect water resources and mitigate the harmful effects of water shortage situations.
  • Study resource augmentation and enhancement measures and identify and facilitate implementation of feasible pilot projects to extend the limits of available natural supplies.
  • Avoid duplication of efforts, identify and address data gaps and needs, and leverage total available resources by establishing and maintaining contacts with other agencies to promote the efficient development of comprehensive programs to conserve and protect water resources.
  • Identify and explore potential funding sources to support Commission activities.
  • Engage in public outreach and educational activities.

For each planning goal, strategic actions to achieve the goal have been identified and prioritized. The results of our planning efforts are compiled in the Water Resource Protection Plan component of the Hawaii Water Plan, a comprehensive, long-range planning document. Proactive water planning will help to ensure that over-reliance is not placed on our State’s limited water resources and further the Commission’s overall protection and management goals.