NA moku 'aupuni O KO'olau is creating a grassroots level, citizen science water quality testing project to help the local community better access and understand up-to-date information about the…

NA moku 'aupuni O KO'olau is creating a grassroots level, citizen science water quality testing project to help the local community better access and understand up-to-date information about the water resources of the KE`anae-wailuanui community. The project will create a dashboard on water quality for 27 streams that were until recently diverted for sugar plantation usage, and this information is vital to the residents who depend on the local watershed for subsistence gathering, fishing, and taro farming. As the project progresses and citizen scientists collect and evaluate data, community members will have a stronger voice in future conversations related to protecting their water resources. Activities:the purpose of this project is to train residents with regional and cultural knowledge to become proficient in the use of water quantity and quality measuring devices, a mobile APP, and dashboard, thereby empowering this underserved community's capacity for local stewardship of resources. This training will enable community members to ultimately monitor 27 streams, tributaries, and estuaries within KO'olau district and remediate water quality issues, supporting a healthy watershed and traditional and customary practices: subsistence gathering, fishing and taro farming. EPA funding will support a small crew in learning to map out the terrain, roads, intakes/diversions, gates, and infrastructure of the local watershed. The crew will clear brush and trails and become skilled in surface water tracing. By caring for and monitoring these areas on an ongoing basis, community members will gain the capacity to identify and resolve barriers and root causes to flow, support healthy stream and marine life, and provide and analyze data for long-term management plans. Ensuring access to quality clean stream also supports a community-based indigenous economy.subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:this project seeks to provide the financial and technological supports needed to comprehensively collect and analyze stream and other vital data in multiple watersheds in an ongoing and integrated manner. Real-time, high integrity data collected and analyzed by community members will provide underserved communities with tools needed to educate policy makers about the availability of water through streams, the nature and extent of ditch flow, as well as losses over time and under various conditions. Furthermore, having access to their own data will provide community members with a voice in developing needed community-based strategies. In the long-term, developing culturally appropriate technology capacity in KE'anae-wailuanui will create opportunities for engaging new technology in furtherance of a traditional lifestyle; for networking with other communities, not only in east maui but throughout the state. Monitoring of stream levels and water diversions by government agencies is limited, and the public does not have access to data collected by private companies. Comprehensive annualized data and modeling are needed to determine how much water is being diverted and returned to the streams, and how water quality is affected. In the short-term, transparent data will support healthier stream and marine life and increase taro farming, supporting an indigenous economy based on cultural values in a way that ensures accountability and community participation. In the long term, data supports developing management plans that address climate change.