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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Communication Reports and Council Oversight Committee Meeting - March 3, 2026

County Council & Committees — Tuesday, March 3, 2026

BodyHawaii County, Hawaii

SessionCounty Council & Committees

DateTuesday, March 3, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 27:28

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:01

Welcome to the 17th session of the communication reports and council oversight committee here at the Hawaii County Building in Hilo.

0:11

It is 10 a.m.

0:13

Um present in the Hilo Chambers.

0:18

It's Councilmember Kimball.

0:22

Kirkowitz, Onishi, Inaba, and myself, the chair of this committee.

0:28

I believe Councilmember Viegus, the vice chair of this committee is present in Kona, although I can't see her.

0:38

And here is Councilmember Houstis.

0:42

And I believe Council Members Kagiwada and Connie Lee E.

0:47

Kleinfelder will be joining us shortly.

0:52

Do we have any testimony for this committee?

0:56

We're not seeing any testifiers for your committee, Madam Chair, but I will give one more chance for anyone out there who'd like to testify in communication 735.

1:06

Please speak up now.

1:09

Aaron, we do have uh one testifier here in Kona.

1:12

Oh, awesome.

1:13

Thank you, Scott.

1:14

Please go ahead.

1:21

Today we do have Josephine Kelly Pio to comment on communication 735.

1:29

Josephine, go ahead and state your name for the record and proceed.

1:33

You'll have three minutes.

1:52

Good morning, Council members.

1:56

So I this I'm Josephine Kilipio from the Corniside.

2:00

And first of all, I would like to apologize ahead of time.

2:03

If the comments that I'm about to make are way off base from your presentation this morning.

2:09

But when I saw that it had to do with drought and climate change, I felt that maybe I should say something.

2:16

If you live on the east side of the island, then you may or may not know that as the east side of the island was suffering from drought conditions last year, the west side, mostly the Kona district, was being drenched in rain.

2:31

It rained almost every day, and it even rained throughout the summer months, which is very unusual.

2:38

And I've been living here for almost 40 years on the Kona side, even though I come from Hilo.

2:42

So I I do know that Hilo gets used to get drenched.

2:46

And it was very unusual to see Kona drenched in rain last year.

2:50

So all of the rain clouds which should have been on the east side, apparently were over on the west side in Kona last year.

2:58

So I hope your presentation in addressing climate change will also address um any man-made technologies that might be contributing to climate change.

3:12

That never ever gets discussed, but it is a real thing, and it gets covered up all the time.

3:20

And that's all I want to say.

3:22

Thank you very much, Mahalo.

3:25

Thank you for your testimony.

3:26

That's it for Kona.

3:29

Thank you, Scott.

3:31

Last chance, anyone.

3:35

Hearing and seeing none, communication 735.

3:38

Request a presentation by Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange on Climate Change, Climate Variability and Drought Portfolio relating to the Lapohoihoy Natural Area Reserve from Councilmember Heather L.

3:49

Kimball, dated February 3, 2026.

3:52

And communication 3735.1 from Councilmember Heather L.

3:56

Kimball, dated February 12, 2026, transmitting replacement presentation material from Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange.

4:04

Chair motion to close file and communication 735.

4:09

It's been moved by Council Member Kimball and seconded by Council Member Khagiwata to close file on communication 735.

4:18

Councilmember Kimball.

4:19

Yes, thank you.

4:21

So I had the opportunity to bring these folks here today from the uh Pacific Drought Exchange to provide uh overview of a tool that they have, a climate climate portfolio tool.

4:35

Um as we were discussing before the meeting started, last year was the second driest year on record.

4:43

Um in my district in particular, there were um three times the number of typical wildfires in a typical year.

4:53

So obviously it's been a little wetter lately, but um I I thought that this might be useful for all of you to be aware of for your district.

5:02

So I will let uh Mr.

5:03

Christian Jardina introduce the members of the exchange.

5:06

Thank you, can you step into the mic?

5:10

And please please talk directly to the mic so Rebecca can hear us.

5:17

Is that it?

5:18

Yeah, that's it.

5:18

Um aloha everybody, um, Mahalo for having us uh today.

5:23

Uh we very much appreciate this opportunity to share some tools that the Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange um has produced over the last couple of years.

5:32

My name's Christian Jardine, I'm a co-lead of the Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange, and um I'm gonna introduce Ryan Longman whose uh information is on the first slide.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Climate Change Adaptation█████████████████████████████████████████████55%

Technology and Innovation███████████████18%

Agriculture and Land Use███████████14%

Procedural███████████13%

Summary of Proceedings

Communication Reports and Council Oversight Committee Meeting - March 3, 2026

The 17th session of the Communication Reports and Council Oversight Committee convened at 10:00 a.m. in the Hilo Chambers of the Hawaii County Building to consider Communication 735, requesting a presentation from the Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange (PDKE) on climate change, climate variability, and drought portfolio tools. Councilmembers present in Hilo: Kimball, Kirkowitz, Onishi, Inaba, and the Chair. Vice Chair Viegus participated from Kona. Councilmember Houstis was present, and Councilmembers Kagiwada and Kleinfelder joined later. The committee heard public testimony, received a detailed presentation from PDKE, and voted unanimously to close the file.

Public Comments & Testimony

Josephine Kelly Pio (Kona side resident, ~40 years) commented on the unusual rainfall pattern in 2025: the east side experienced severe drought while Kona received drenching rain throughout summer. She urged the committee to consider whether man-made technologies might be contributing to climate change, stating this aspect is "never ever discussed" and "covered up." She apologized if her comments diverged from the presentation topic.

Discussion Items

Presentation by Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange (PDKE): Christian Jardine (co-lead), Dr. Ryan Longman (University of Hawaii Sea Grant, Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, Hawaii Climate Data Portal), Derek Ford (geospatial data analyst), and Shereo Hugh (climate data analyst) presented two tools developed through a co-production model with local resource managers.
- Climate Portfolio Tool: An online tool that generates a ~40-slide PowerPoint for any selected area (predefined or custom) across the main Hawaiian Islands. Outputs include over 100 years of monthly rainfall data, monthly air temperature from 1990 to present, drought history (18 drought events since 1920 for Paʻauilo aquifer area), groundwater recharge data (e.g., 40% reduction during severe drought events), and future projections (e.g., 4% rainfall decrease, 2.5°F temperature increase, up to 34% groundwater recharge reduction by end of century). The tool is free, takes ~30 minutes to generate, and is updated monthly with the latest data from the Hawaii Climate Data Portal.
- Hawaii Rangeland Information Portal (HRIP): A tool designed for ranchers, providing a climate dashboard (daily/monthly rainfall, temperature, consecutive dry days, 12-month drought history) and a forage growth outlook based on historical data and ENSO conditions. It was developed via annual feedback from the Hawaii Cattleman's Council. The tool also supports decision-making for de-stocking, supplemental feeding, and the new Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) insurance product from the Risk Management Agency, which launched on Hawaii Island in 2025.
Councilmember Kimball introduced the presentation, noting that 2025 was the second driest year on record and that her district experienced three times the typical number of wildfires. She stated the tools would be useful for all districts.
Councilmember Houstis asked about how ranchers could request the one-by-one-mile grids on the HRIP map. Shereo Hugh explained that anyone can submit a form to create grids, which are then bookmarked for that user.
In response to the public testimony about unusual rainfall, Dr. Longman noted that Kona typically has a summer maximum of rainfall, but he would need to examine data to confirm abnormality. He speculated that conditions may have been driven by changes in atmospheric circulation and trade wind deviations, rather than directly by man-made climate change.

Key Outcomes

Motion to close file on Communication 735 was made by Councilmember Kimball, seconded by Councilmember Kagiwada. The motion passed unanimously with 9 votes in favor (voice vote: "aye").
The committee received the PDKE presentation and acknowledged the availability of the climate portfolio and rangeland portal tools for county and private use.
The meeting concluded at approximately 10:30 a.m., with the next committee scheduled to meet shortly.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the 17th session of the communication reports and council oversight committee here at the Hawaii County Building in Hilo. It is 10 a.m. Um present in the Hilo Chambers. It's Councilmember Kimball. Kirkowitz, Onishi, Inaba, and myself, the chair of this committee. I believe Councilmember Viegus, the vice chair of this committee is present in Kona, although I can't see her. And here is Councilmember Houstis. And I believe Council Members Kagiwada and Connie Lee E. Kleinfelder will be joining us shortly. Do we have any testimony for this committee? We're not seeing any testifiers for your committee, Madam Chair, but I will give one more chance for anyone out there who'd like to testify in communication 735. Please speak up now. Aaron, we do have uh one testifier here in Kona. Oh, awesome. Thank you, Scott. Please go ahead. Today we do have Josephine Kelly Pio to comment on communication 735. Josephine, go ahead and state your name for the record and proceed. You'll have three minutes. Good morning, Council members. So I this I'm Josephine Kilipio from the Corniside. And first of all, I would like to apologize ahead of time. If the comments that I'm about to make are way off base from your presentation this morning. But when I saw that it had to do with drought and climate change, I felt that maybe I should say something. If you live on the east side of the island, then you may or may not know that as the east side of the island was suffering from drought conditions last year, the west side, mostly the Kona district, was being drenched in rain. It rained almost every day, and it even rained throughout the summer months, which is very unusual. And I've been living here for almost 40 years on the Kona side, even though I come from Hilo. So I I do know that Hilo gets used to get drenched. And it was very unusual to see Kona drenched in rain last year. So all of the rain clouds which should have been on the east side, apparently were over on the west side in Kona last year. So I hope your presentation in addressing climate change will also address um any man-made technologies that might be contributing to climate change. That never ever gets discussed, but it is a real thing, and it gets covered up all the time. And that's all I want to say. Thank you very much, Mahalo. Thank you for your testimony. That's it for Kona. Thank you, Scott. Last chance, anyone. Hearing and seeing none, communication 735. Request a presentation by Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange on Climate Change, Climate Variability and Drought Portfolio relating to the Lapohoihoy Natural Area Reserve from Councilmember Heather L. Kimball, dated February 3, 2026. And communication 3735.1 from Councilmember Heather L. Kimball, dated February 12, 2026, transmitting replacement presentation material from Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange. Chair motion to close file and communication 735. It's been moved by Council Member Kimball and seconded by Council Member Khagiwata to close file on communication 735. Councilmember Kimball. Yes, thank you. So I had the opportunity to bring these folks here today from the uh Pacific Drought Exchange to provide uh overview of a tool that they have, a climate climate portfolio tool. Um as we were discussing before the meeting started, last year was the second driest year on record. Um in my district in particular, there were um three times the number of typical wildfires in a typical year.

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