Hawaii Public Radio program discusses adaptive water management with Richard Wallsgrove

“Can you weather a white paper on climate change?”  Beth-Ann Kozlovich, host of Hawaii Public Radio’s weekday morning talk show The Conversation, asked this question by means of an introduction for Wednesday morning’s guest.  Ms. Kozlovich spoke with ICAP’s Senior Attorney, Richard Wallsgrove, about the recent ICAP white paper that he co-authored, titled, Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation in Hawai‘i:  Adaptive Tools in the Current Law and Policy Framework.

Market-based adaptive tools and conservation measures recommended in the white paper were main topics of the conversation.  Mr. Wallsgrove explained, “In the state right now, we use more than 300 million gallons per day.  If we put that into milk jugs and laid them end to end, they would wrap around the earth twice every day.”  This level of current water use, paired with observed climate trends such as decreasing rainfall, rising temperatures, and rising sea-levels, led him to conclude that Hawai‘i’s water future is “very scary.”

Mr. Wallsgrove explained that cost-effective measures, such as a rebate system for water-conserving retrofits and online water use reporting, could have cost saving benefits now and allow for a more secure water future.

You can listen to the show in The Conversation’s archive.  The interview with Mr. Wallsgrove begins at 35:30.  The show airs weekday mornings from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. local time on KIPO FM89.3 and KIPM FM89.7.