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Puakō Sewer Planning for Reef Recovery

Climate Resilience and Hazard MitigationCesspools

Puakō Reef—an ecological and economic engine for Hawai‘i Island’s Kohala Coast—has lost 90% of its coral coverage over the past 50 years, primarily due to wastewater from the 200-home oceanfront cesspools, septic tanks, and ATU systems. Scientific studies confirm that replacing these systems with a sewer is the only way to restore water quality and enable reef recovery. The community has spent more than a decade planning with public and private partners, but the County has stated it cannot fund the planning or construction. Puakō now needs $1 million to complete the final planning steps and make the project shovel ready.

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Comments1

  • Moccasin Sheep

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    Oct 20

    Strong support. The UH Hilo dye study at Puakō showed shoreline sewage reaching the reef in as little as 6 hours, so finishing this planning matters. Once a sewer is built, each household still has to connect and properly close its old cesspool, septic tank or ATU. We'd be glad to help coordinate that step home by home so the sewer delivers its full benefit quickly. Rahul, ʻĀina Force (rahul@ainaforce.com)