Agency adopts
water-saving plan

The Department of Land and Natural Resources has adopted a prototype water conservation plan that it hopes will save 3.1 million gallons of water a month and be a model for other state agencies.

"We're serious about preserving the resource, and we want to work with other state agencies on this," said department Director Peter Young. Though there will be upfront costs for installing low-flow plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems, "this isn't spending more money than we're saving," he said.

The DLNR's Commission on Water Resource Management will administer the pilot program at five department locations: its Kalanimoku State Office Building, Kakaako Waterfront Park, Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in Kona and the forestry base yard in Hilo.

Conservation measures at five pilot DLNR facilities could save the department more than 1.2 million gallons of water and more than $31,000 a year on its water bill.

The DLNR Water Conservation Plan was developed in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Reclamation.

Currently, DLNR uses an average of about 31 million gallons of water and pays about $61,000 a month for all of its facilities statewide.

To find out more about the project, contact Dean Nakano, acting deputy director for water, at 587-0214.