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The first meeting was held last Thursday, Oct. 29, in the county Planning Department Conference Room in Wailuku, which introduced the knowledgeable individuals who were hand-picked by the Mayor’s Office to explore Maui’s waterwater reuse options.

CWG will include significant input from various groups, including education specialists, developers, company heads, environmentalists and community leaders.

This team will be supported by the county Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and its Wastewater Reclamation Division (WRD), with environmental engineers and consultants from Brown and Caldwell providing technical assistance. Community Outreach Coordinator Leland Chang will act as moderator and county Environmental Coordinator Kuhea Paracuelles will assist.

The group, which will meet monthly, will be expected to provide its findings and prospective strategies in a final report in December 2010.

“When wastewater is used for such things as irrigation, it helps to conserve drinkable water for our homes and businesses,” Mayor Charmaine Tavares said in public release. “This task force will explore options that can help our county increase the use of treated wastewater.”

Maui County’s residents, businesses and visitors send an average of 15 million gallons of wastewater through the sewer systems each day—a substantial amount for our infrastructure to manage.

According to the county’s Website, an excess of approximately 11.4 million gallons per day of reclaimed water is produced at treatment facilities. But, without “sufficient storage and distribution capability” to make use of all of it, the excess is sent down injection wells.

Many residents are concerned about injection wells—including a group called DIRE (Don’t Inject, Redirect).

Last May, the mayor announced that “our goal is to use all of the water that’s produced by our treatment plants and not put it down any injection wells.”

During introductions at Thursday’s meeting, Dan Clegg, land/resources manager from Monsanto, mentioned it was “personal to see resources used effectively,” while Research Assistant Robin Knox from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Botany Department emphasized her “love of the spirit of community cooperation on Maui.”

“I want to help to try to preserve what natural resources we have for future generations,” said Roland Asakura, environmental health specialist from the State Department of Health.

DEM Director Cheryl K. Okuma presented a wastewater history overview, covering everything from Congress’ Clean Water Act in 1972 to the limitations Maui faces today, such as environmental concerns and increased operational costs.

“We are limited to what we can access,” she said. “But, Maui is viewed by other counties as progressive and a leader in recycled water—we would like to improve upon this even more.”

Paracuelles said the CWG seats “were highly sought out.” She knows “we want it, but we need to make it happen” when it comes to the mayor’s goals. “Can we do it, and how?” she said. “And if not, then why?”

“The most important thing is to increase the reliability of existing facilities,” said DEM-WRD Chief Dave Taylor. “We want to increase the volume of recycled water, improve the quality of treated water and decrease odors.”

Taylor said the county needs at least $30 million a year over the next two decades when it comes to Capital Improvement Project priority spending just to keep systems running efficiently and to avoid sewage spills. It has become more difficult “to secure federal funding to help pay for necessary infrastructure to treat wastewater,” said the mayor.

Presently, residents who pay county sewer utilities receive a monthly bill of about $56. If the WRD completes its mandatory projects, that amount could increase to $110 by 2030.

After the “Wastewater 101” tutorial, CWG members suggested some ideas for guiding principles during future meetings.

They mentioned supporting the mayor’s goals, collecting community input, improving upon public wastewater education and pushing for greater water conservation efforts to tie into reuse.

“There needs to be more community awareness of what’s going on before spills occur,” said Taylor.

A few members discussed the importance of our reefs to Maui’s sustainability, and stressed the need to concentrate on environmental perspectives throughout the process.

Clegg mentioned “demystifying the environmental issues” and supported exploring the opportunities using this resource creates.

DEM/WRD Water Recycling Program Coordinator Steve Parabicoli and Engineer Scott Rollins will also participate in CWG process.

A few commented on the absence of a representative from the Maui Department of Water Supply. Paracuellas said they expect to add four more names to the list before the next meeting on Thursday, Dec. 3.

Participation is encouraged throughout the CWG process, with a public email and Website to be set up.

For the complete list of the Maui Wastewater CWG members and affiliations, visit this article online at www.mauiweekly.com.

For more information, call the DEM at 270-8230.

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