Green fee funding for Act 281 pond inventory and monitoring

Fund implementation of Act 281 (2025), known as Sharkey's Law, through green fee funding. Act 281 (2025) was passed in response to the drowning death of 5-year-old Charlotte "Sharkey" Schaefers in an improperly flooded, unsecured detention pond. The law establishes safety requirements for new retention and detention ponds and requires counties to identify, inventory and assess pre-existing ponds and recommend actions to address hazards, but the Legislature provided no funding to implement it, leaving counties without the resources needed to complete inventories, identify risks, carry out recommended safety improvements, or plan for continued enhancements of these structures. Green fee funding could help the counties complete the Act 281 inventory and hazard assessment, support implementation of recommended safety improvements, and establish funding for annual inspections and a statewide real-time monitoring network. Hawai‘i already has a successful model for this approach: Hohonu's deployment at Wahiawā Reservoir demonstrates how real-time sensors, dashboards and automated alerts can provide advance warning of changing water conditions. With experts warning that strong El Niño conditions can increase the risk of extreme weather and flooding, proactive inspection, monitoring and maintenance of stormwater infrastructure are critical to protecting public safety, reducing flood risk and strengthening community resilience. The need is increasingly urgent as Hawaiʻi responds to flooding from Hurricane Lowell, Hurricane Moke, Hurricane Nolo, Hurricane Lala and severe Kona low storms, which have contributed to more than $1 billion in recovery and resilience costs statewide. Flooding not only damages communities and ecosystems, but also increases drowning risk as rising water levels, fast-moving runoff and stormwater infrastructure create hazardous conditions. As Hawai‘i builds and relies on more stormwater facilities to manage increasingly intense rainfall, public safety must be prioritized as unfenced or poorly maintained stormwater infrastructure can increase flooding and drowning risks and create environmental hazards.