I have attended three meetings of the Southwest Maui Watershed Project Advisory Group. This is a two-year project funded by the federal government and the state Department of Health through the Clean Water Act. The stated purpose of this process is to plan for protection of water quality by reducing land-based pollution.The project will estimate pollutant loads, set reduction goals and identify best management practices for each land use in the watershed.
There is a lot to learn, many great questions are being asked and we are helping map out Maui’s future with regard to protecting our watershed.
I’ve noticed something in these meetings that is troubling to me. I’ve noticed the people that aren’t in the room. There are a lot of citizen volunteers but there is hardly any representation from the business community or the county. We get the occasional representative from Water and Wastewater, but what about Planning, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, County Council? I have been assured these people are being notified about the meetings.
It occurs to me that if these people aren’t at the table during this process, they won’t be very likely to buy into any recommendations this group has for taking care of the watershed.
Please come to our meetings, give us your input and feedback and be our partner in protecting this most important natural resource. If you want to receive meeting notices, contact Robin Knox at wqcinc@hawaii.rr.com.
Maury King
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