Hawaii Water Service holds Emergency Response Exercises

To enhance coordination during emergencies or natural disasters, local water and wastewater utility Hawaii Water hosted representatives from emergency response and regulatory agencies, elected and State offices, utilities, contractors, and other community partners for Community Emergency Operations Center (EOC) exercises on both Maui and the Big Island this week.

Hawaii Water—which holds EOC exercises annually for its employees to refresh their knowledge and improve readiness—invited participants to both learn how the utility prepares to respond to crises and collaborate on a regional, coordinated response should a large-scale emergency occur, particularly top of mind in the wake of last year’s devastating Maui wildfires. Led by the utility’s Safety team and Gerald Simon, retired Vice President of Emergency Preparedness, Safety, and Security and former Oakland (Calif.) Fire Chief, the exercises included both an emergency response course using the Incident Command System and a hands-on disaster simulation.

Joining Hawaii Water on Maui on July 9 were Hawaii State Representative Elle Cochran (District 14), the Maui Police Department, Maui Department of Water Supply, Hawaiian Electric, Ka’anapali Land Management Corporation, Pural Water Specialty Co., Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, California Public Utilities Commission, and Water Controls & Pump Systems. Participants on Hawaii island on July 10 included Hawaii County Fire, Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization (Firewise), Hawaii County Civil Defense, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) – Waikoloa, Hawaii Rural Water Association, Goodfellow Bros., Waikoloa Land Company, Pural Water Specialty Co., Waikoloa Mauka Makai Resilience Hub, and Michael Konowicz, Waikoloa Village’s Homeowners Association Director, meteorologist, and County Council candidate.

Marty Kropelnicki, Chairman and CEO of Hawaii Water’s parent company California Water Service Group, and Mike Mares, the utility’s Vice President of Operations, also joined the groups for the exercises.

"Protecting our customers’ and communities’ health and safety is our highest priority, and part of fulfilling that commitment includes regularly training on potential incidents and preparing our team’s operational readiness and response," said Geoff Fulks, Hawaii Water General Manager. "We are pleased that so many of our community partners and officials were able to join us as we work together to make the communities we serve safer."