Group to use $230,000 grant to capture runoff

Hui o Ko‘olaupoko, a nonprofit group based in Kailua, received $230,000 on Wednesday to help prevent tainted water from entering the ocean.

The money is part of $800,000 that will go to four grants as a result of a lawsuit against the city for violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

Todd Cullison, executive director of Hui o Ko‘o­lau­poko, said the grant will help create systems in Windward Oahu to capture rainwater and direct it into the ground before it can gather ground contaminants and flow into the ocean.

Last year Hui Ku Maoli Ola’s Wai­pao‘ili Restoration project received $400,000 from the settlement to restore watershed lands in Heeia.

The two remaining grants have yet to be awarded.