The East and West Kauai Soil and Water Conservation Districts (Kauai SWCDs) are two of sixteen conservation districts in Hawaii and 3,000 districts in the nation. 

 

     Hawaii’s Conservation Districts are self-governing sub-units of the State government, authorized by and operating under Chapter 180 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. For administrative purposes, the Conservation Districts are placed under the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). Each Conservation District is governed by an unpaid board of five directors: three elected by agricultural land owners and two appointed by the Board of Land and Natural Resources. Directors are assisted by Associate Directors. With funding from the State of Hawaii and the County of Kauai, Kauai’s SWCDs have paid staff consisting of two Conservation Specialists and a part-time District Assistant. Hawaii’s sixteen Conservation Districts have formed the Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts (HACD) to support and promote natural resource conservation statewide.

 

     The NRCS is the Conservation Districts’ prime conservation partner and technical resource agency. In addition to the NRCS, Conservation Districts work closely with and receive support from the DLNR, County of Kauai, Department of Water, State Legislature, County Council, US Environmental Protection Agency, HACD, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, State Agriculture Department, Coastal Zone Management Program, and Garden Island Resource Conservation and Development (GIRC&D).