HI HR33

Encourages Hawaiʻi County to complete the Puakō Sewage Project in collaboration with the Puakō community, Department of Health, and other stakeholders to protect and restore Puakō Reef, where live coral cover has declined from 70% to 7%.

Hawaiʻi has approximately 80,000 cesspools releasing 53 million gallons of untreated sewage annually, with a projected conversion cost exceeding $1.5 billion and a 2050 deadline for upgrades.

The Puakō community has raised $2.5 million in private donations over 13 years and developed a solution integrating advanced wastewater collection with fiber-optic infrastructure for remote monitoring and broadband access.

The State owns more than 50% of land in Puakō, including Wailea State Park, boat ramp, beach access areas, and planned UH Hilo Marine Center, all requiring cesspool conversion.

The project aims to establish a replicable model using public-private-philanthropic partnerships (4P model) to accelerate cesspool conversion in similar coastal communities statewide while addressing the digital divide in rural areas.