Water commission warns of backlogs and staffing gaps in well permitting

Commission staff from the Commission on Water Resource Management gave a technical briefing to the task force on how water and well permits are processed and the resource constraints that slow reviews.

"We have three branches … and the regulation section is the primary section that works on processing permits," said Kira Kohane, deputy director, who introduced Ryan Imata, branch chief of the groundwater branch. Kohane noted multiple vacancies in regulation and said many GIS and technical positions remain open.

Ryan Imata described three common permit types: well construction permits, pump‑installation permits and, within designated water‑management areas, groundwater‑use permits. He walked through staff procedures — completeness checks, routing for agency comment, evaluation and decision — and identified delegation thresholds. “There’s a 27 gallons per minute threshold: below 27 gpm is delegated; above that, it goes to commission,” Imata said.

Imata said routine delegated reviews can be processed on roughly a 45‑day agency review schedule and typically aim to complete work in about 90 days. Water‑use permits in designated management areas take longer: the commission publishes two weeks of public notices and objections can trigger contested‑case hearings, which add months or years to the timeline.

Kira Kohane told members the commission is tracking roughly 5,500 groundwater wells statewide and has critical monitoring obligations — about $1.5 million supports USGS stream and rainfall gauges and $2 million per year funds deep monitor wells — but that staffing is the bottleneck in permit throughput. The commission reported having only one staffed regulator in the groundwater regulation section during a recent period and is actively recruiting.

Members raised recurring questions about jurisdictional confusion — which agency handles stream or channel disputes — and asked whether the commission can publish a simple public guide. Kohane said there is no single public “who to call” guide today and acknowledged the commission receives many calls meant for county water departments.

On Lāhainā, staff reported receipt of approximately 140 water‑use applications after the area’s designation as a water‑management area; the commission said many applications may face objections and contested‑case hearings, prolonging decisions. The commission said Lahaina review is a high priority once vacancies are filled.

Task force members asked the commission to feed clarifying detail into the PIG on water and wells in order to identify near‑term staffing and funding options.