Stop Passing the Buck and Start Funding Solutions

Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs are in crisis. Bleaching, algae blooms, and collapse are accelerating—and one of the biggest drivers is right under our feet: over 80,000 cesspools leaking raw sewage into our groundwater and nearshore waters. That’s human waste feeding algae that chokes coral, damages fisheries, and pollutes drinking water.

This isn’t just an environmental failure. Its a government failure, a failure of political will.

The science is clear. The damage is visible. But instead of leading and solving the problem, the State of Hawaiʻi shifts the burden onto families, demanding $20,000+ upgrades–while corporations and developers get exemptions and resorts get sewer lines.

Meanwhile, the reef dies.

Why doesn’t the state pay?

Because it’s easier to protect budgets, billionaires, and corporations than ecosystems. Our politicians don’t govern. They fear political fallout from their donors more than ecological collapse.

What’s the solution?

• Declare a Clean Water Emergency.
• Ban new cesspools.
• Create a state-funded conversion program using climate funds, green bonds, and tourism revenue.
• Fully subsidize upgrades for working families.
• Enforce deadlines with accountability.

If we can fund luxury resorts and military projects, we can fund sewage treatment.

The reef can’t speak. But we can. And we must.

Protest. Testify. Organize.

Demand that POLITICIANS start practicing GOOD GOVERNMENT.

Cesspools are poisoning the ocean. The reef is dying. There are no more excuses.

She Sources for Studying the Economics of Cesspools in Hawaiʻi

1. Hawaiʻi State Department of Health. Cesspool Conversion Working Group Final Report to the Legislature. Honolulu: Environmental Management Division, Wastewater Branch, December 2021.Provides cost estimates for cesspool conversion ($20,000–$50,000 per household), statewide economic impacts (~$2–4 billion), and proposed funding models, including tax credits and subsidies.
2. Coleman, Stuart. “Hawai‘i’s Aging Cesspools Are an Environmental and Economic Time Bomb.” Hawaii Business Magazine, January 2022.Discusses the broader economic stakes of inaction, including reef degradation’s impact on tourism, property values, and fisheries.
3. Grossman, Dakota. “Experts Say Cesspool Conversion Too Costly for Most.” The Maui News, January 7, 2023.Quotes local engineers, state officials, and residents struggling with the high out-of-pocket costs of conversion and the lack of accessible financing.
4. Hawaiʻi State Department of Health. Cesspool Conversion Financial Study. Prepared by Hawaiʻi Water Environment Association and AECOM, 2020.Analyzes possible financing structures for conversion: low-interest loans, on-bill financing, public-private partnerships, green bonds, and federal/state grant blending.
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Clean Water State Revolving Fund Annual Report: Hawaiʻi FY2022. Region 9, Pacific Southwest.Describes the amount and usage of federal infrastructure funds allocated to Hawaiʻi for wastewater system upgrades, including cesspool mitigation.
6. Hawaiʻi State Senate. SB1421 SD2 HD1 CD1, Relating to Wastewater Systems. 2025 Regular Session.Legislative language and committee reports on funding timelines, conversion delays, and financial burden on homeowners.
7. Surfrider Foundation and Wastewater Alternatives & Innovations (WAI). Cesspool Economics: Clean Water Finance Solutions for Hawai‘i. Honolulu, 2022.Outlines the return-on-investment for early conversion vs. deferred disaster response, including cost-benefit analyses of nutrient pollution reduction.
8. Yamachika, Tom. “Are We Kicking the Cesspool Down the Road?” Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi, April 2023.A critical look at the legislature’s unwillingness to fund cesspool conversion at the state level and the regressive effect on low-income homeowners.
9. Ulukau, Lani. “Infrastructure Inequality in the Pacific: Cesspools, Climate Finance, and the Price of Clean Water.” Pacific Affairs 96, no. 1 (2023): 44–67.Academic article on the intersection of environmental justice, indigenous land use, and the economics of wastewater policy in Hawaiʻi.
10. Pacific Resource Partnership. Cost Analysis: Accelerating Cesspool Conversion by 2030. Honolulu, 2024. Construction industry perspective on the labor, material, and permitting bottlenecks involved in scaling up conversions statewide.