LIHUE — Kilauea’s water tank is slated to be upgraded.
A class four zoning permit, use permit and special permit to install a new, one-million-gallon water tank in Kilauea was approved at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting. The project is part of the county Department of Water’s Water Plan 2020 project and supports the county’s General Plan.
“(The plan) is a comprehensive, long-range plan that addresses the need to upgrade aging infrastructures and improve the Department of Water’s water systems islandwide,” said Jonell Kaohelaulii, spokesperson for the DOW, in a written statement to The Garden Island.
When completed, the project will increase the storage capacity for the Kilauea water system.
The project is still in its design phase and is going through the process to obtain the required permits, Kaohelaulii said.
The cost of the project has not been determined.
The new tank will sit west of the Waiakalua subdivision and will serve residential and commercial neighborhoods and agricultural land. The existing 100,000 gallon Pu‘u Pane water tank will be demolished during the project, and improvements will be made to the site.
During the demolition of the existing tank, six potable, small-capacity temporary tanks will be placed within a fenced area to continue serving the public during construction.
The Pu‘u Pane water tank has been in service for 16 years.
Representing the DOW, Keith Aoki told the commission the installation is to meet the current water system standards.
“It’s for domestic water use and it also services the ag use,” he said.
For clarification, commission Chair Donna Apisa asked if it was the quality of water, quantity, or both.
“It’s for the quantity of water. Right now we don’t have adequate storage facilities to meet our standards so we need to increase storage amount,” Aoki said.
The installation shouldn’t impact water pressure, he said.
“The new tank is going to be at the same elevation of the existing tank so the pressure should stay the same. It would just mean that there’s more water for fire protection,” Aoki said.
Aoki said the DOW will work with Native Hawaiian cultural practioners to have access to the land.
The replacement of the water tank, which is a storage tank and not a source tank, won’t impact public uses, he said.
“So it doesn’t affect the source,” he said.
In a report, the Planning Department concluded the development will not have any substantial adverse impacts to the surrounding neighborhood and will not create significant probabilities of harm to properties and improvements in the neighborhood.
An environmental assessment found the project will have no significant impact on the area.
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Bethany Freudenthal, crime, courts and county reporter, can be reached at 652-7891, bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com.
