Study finds East Maui stream flows too low


The Maui News reports:
A stream diversion study released this week has found that stream flows in the East Maui watershed are well below what's needed to provide a "sustainable natural habitat."

How much water will need to be restored to the streams is less clear, but the study completed by a U.S. Geological Survey team will be a key document for the state Commission on Water Resource Management, which is mandated by state law to set in-stream flow standards.
[...]
The study includes an intensive investigation of five streams in East Maui and data gathered from 21 streams overall.
[...]
All of the streams studied from Hanawi to Waikamoi are being diverted by the East Maui Irrigation Co. to provide irrigation water for Maui Pineapple Co. and Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., and domestic water for Upcountry residents.

But the streams also are habitats for a number of native aquatic species, including five native freshwater fish, oopu; freshwater shrimp, opae; and a native snail, hihiwai. All of the freshwater species have a larval stage that is spent in the ocean, with the young oopu, opae and hihiwai returning to the freshwater streams to mature and breed.

In order to maintain their life cycles, the various species need to have streams that flow to the ocean. Where the streams are left dry, as at Honomanu, the habitat is effectively lost, but the issue for the commission is how much water needs to be restored to provide an adequate habitat.

The report is available for downloading at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2005/5213/.


Posted: Sat - January 28, 2006 at 03:45 PM    
   
 
Categories
XML/RSS Feed
Search
World Court Case DVD
Larsen Case on DVD
Larsen DVD
Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom at the
Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Hague, 2001
DVD Mini-Documentary & Booklet
Order your copy
FREE HAWAII STICKERS
Free Hawaii
Over at the Free Hawaii blog, Koani Foundation is giving away "Free Hawaii" stickers and pins, and will post photos of them displayed in interesting places. Spread them far and wide!
HAWAII DOCUMENTS
HAWAII LINKS
HAWAII BLOGROLL
HAWAII FORUMS
HAWAII PODCASTING
PROGRESSIVE BLOGROLL
TV Worth Watching
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The Colbert Report
NOW with David Brancaccio
Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry
Real Time with Bill Maher
Washington Journal on C-Span
PBN Friday with Howard Dicus
Portfolio
Archives
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Browse archives by date
CURRENT IMAGE
Support Organ Donation
DONATE LIFE
Comments powered by
Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com
TECHNORATI
SUPPORT THIS BLOG
If you find this weblog valuable, please consider making a secure donation via PayPal to support its ongoing maintenance:

Mahalo!
Or contact me about sponsoring this blog in exchange for space in the Sponsored Links area above.
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jan 28, 2006 03:45 PM
Powered by
iBlog


©