The Nature Conservancy receives grant to build coastal resilience through improved wastewater management in Hawai‘i

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) received a three-year $125,000 grant from the Ulupono Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation to develop innovative tools and advance policies that support viable wastewater conversion to protect Hawaiʻi’s people, fresh water supplies and marine life.

“We are grateful for this support of our holistic approach,” said Emily Fielding, TNC’s Hawaiʻi Marine Program director. “As part of the Hawai‘i Wastewater Coalition, we are building tremendous momentum for this work, and we are proud to support collaborative efforts that help state agencies and island communities evaluate sustainable wastewater options and secure funding to navigate and aid in this transition.”

The Ulupono Fund is a donor-advised fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation through which Ulupono Initiative recommends grants to nonprofit organizations and community partners advancing local food production, renewable energy, clean transportation choices, and better management of freshwater resources.

“We look forward to working with TNC to address the cesspool crisis in Hawaiʻi,” said Jeremy Kimura, Director of Fresh Water for Ulupono Initiative. “This community-centric project will bring much needed attention to the drinking water impacts from cesspools that our rural communities are forced to live with due to the lack of adequate wastewater infrastructure. Equitable solutions to this crisis need to start with centering well-being of water and the people. Because when water thrives, we thrive.”

Hawai‘i has more than 83,000 cesspools and 650 coastal injection wells that discharge 53 million gallons of wastewater into our groundwater and nearshore ocean waters every day. As a result, wastewater discharge, which contains nutrients, pollutants and pathogens, harm our health and marine life. The State mandated upgrades of these systems by 2050.

TNC is working to support this transition toward improved wastewater management and meet the mandated cesspool system upgrades through: 

• The application of a dynamic, data-driven prioritization tool for cesspool conversion in priority sites.
• An effective policy framework that accelerates conversion.
• Strong collaboration across government, NGO, and private sector partners to advance systemic solutions.