Building an Understanding of Human-Water Resource Relationships through Community Engagement in Haʻikū and Huelo, HI
| dc.contributor.advisor | Shuler, Christopher | |
| dc.contributor.author | Bees, Brandon Thomas | |
| dc.contributor.department | Earth and Planetary Sciences | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-02-20T22:36:31Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-02-20T22:36:31Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.degree | M.S. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10125/110171 | |
| dc.subject | Hydrologic sciences | |
| dc.subject | Geochemistry | |
| dc.title | Building an Understanding of Human-Water Resource Relationships through Community Engagement in Haʻikū and Huelo, HI | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dcterms.abstract | This community-funded project is in support of the Haʻikū and Huelo residents that are impacted by limitations in, and decreasing quality of their drinking water sources. In the study area, many homes are not served by the County water system, and thus rely on private wells, springs, or rain catchment. The potential for future water development in northeast Maui, Hawaiʻi, causes concern for residents reliant on private ground or surface water sources. The vulnerability of water resources to overexploitation may cause negative impacts on both the water availability and cultural practices in this region. By supporting local residents in developing a better understanding of aquifer characteristics and response to stresses, such as decreased rainfall, or increased withdrawal rate, this work aims to increase community capacity and boost future water resilience. Increased knowledge of the hydrological connections that exist throughout the aquifer will yield insights into how future water withdrawals may impact current water levels and uses. Here, we use analysis of water isotopes (²H and ¹⁸O) in groundwater, surface water and precipitation, as well as major ion composition to elucidate connectivity between surface water and groundwater in the study region. We also applied an existing MODFLOW model to examine the impacts of a set of hypothetical production wells at different pumping rates to simulate how current wells may be affected under hypothetical scenarios of future water development. We conducted an analysis of historical rainfall data and future projections to consolidate data and discuss trends and the effects of ENSO on precipitation. Overall, results suggest that groundwater and surface water in Haʻikū are unlikely to be hydrologically connected due to statistically different geochemistry, which suggests that they originate from different source areas and elevations. However, in Huelo the opposite is found suggesting there may be different hydrogeologic or climatic factors that control groundwater-surface water interactions in different places. Groundwater model results indicate that the impact of future withdrawals can vary dramatically based on the geographic location of pumping wells and residential wells. These challenges all fall under the backdrop of decreasing rainfall trends between 1920 and present. | |
| dcterms.extent | 86 pages | |
| dcterms.language | en | |
| dcterms.publisher | University of Hawai'i at Manoa | |
| dcterms.rights | All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner. | |
| dcterms.type | Text | |
| local.identifier.alturi | http://dissertations.umi.com/hawii:12456 |
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