Keeping Our Water Quality High

Last year I fought a bill that would lower Hawaii’s water quality standards. Water quality experts measure water by taking samples that are one foot below water surface, which is knee-to-waist deep. Hawaii has more than 400 public beaches and ranked 5th in beach water quality. Some of Hawaii’s popular beaches like Hanauma Bay, Royal Hawaiian-Moana and Wailea Beach Park received high marks by earning four out of five stars. Kuliouou, Keehi Lagoon and Hanalei Beach Park received two stars.

“The bad news is daily exceedance of water quality standards was up this year…” said Surfrider Foundation of Hawaii coordinator, Stuart Coleman.

Last year’s bill lowered Hawaii’s high water quality standards to minimum federal levels. It also made the Legislature responsible for determining best water quality standards, which belongs with qualified scientists with the Department of Health. No Legislator has the expertise to claim that XX parts per million of a particular substance is adequate, and asking the Legislature to make such a determination introduces politics into decisions of health and safety. For example, if the state wanted to increase the number of beaches with “clean” water to qualify for federal funding or draw more tourists, all the Legislature would have to do is simply lower the standards by which water quality is measured. That’s just not right.