UH leads $20M research partnership to secure Hawai‘i’s water future

Image courtesy of EPSCoR

Increasing population, changing land use practices and issues relating to climate change are contributing to growing concerns over water quality and quantity in Hawaiʻi. To help the state address this critical issue, the National Science Foundation has awarded $20 million to the University of Hawaiʻi to do a five-year, groundbreaking study of water sustainability issues through a collaboration called ʻIke Wai.

The project name ʻIke Wai symbolizes knowledge (ʻike) of water (wai) which informs values, policies and practices for managing this resource. The ʻIke Wai program assembles UH, state and federal agencies and community partners to address critical gaps in the understanding of Hawaiʻi’s water supply that limit decision making, planning and crisis responses. The project spans geophysics, microbiology, cyberinfrastructure, data modeling, indigenous knowledge and economic forecasting and pairs university scientists in partnerships with state and federal agencies and community groups.

ʻIke Wai is a collaboration between the University of Hawaiʻi (including the UH Sea Grant College Program), Hawaiʻi State Departments of Health and Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Hawaiʻi County Department of Water Supply, U.S. Geological Survey and community partners to create a data driven, sustainable water future for the state of Hawaiʻi and its Pacific neighbors. For more information go to the EPSCoR website.

Read more about and watch the video report in the UH System News and West Hawaii Today.