A DECISION MODEL FOR RESOURCES ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI

Geographical isolation and limited resources create resource management challenges for the island of Maui, which relies heavily on imported goods - as much as 90% - for its food and energy. Consequently, the price of electricity on the island is nearly three times the U.S. average and food is over two times the U.S. average. Reliance on the distant mainland and foreign countries for basic goods has given rise to concerns about food and energy security. Relative self-sufficiency can be achieved by producing food and renewable energy locally, and limiting waste generation; However, food, energy and waste production are strongly interconnected and largely limited by water supplies, land availability, and high costs. The Ulupono Initiative, a community investment organization, has set goals to address resource issues in four different sectors: food, water, energy, and waste. The Ulupono Initiative goals are to produce 85% of fruits and vegetables and 30% of all other foods locally, generate 35% of energy from local renewable sources, limit groundwater withdrawal to below the sustainable yield and increase waste diversion from landfills.

Recognizing the importance of stakeholder collaboration and to test the elasticity of natural resources, we developed a systems dynamic decision model designed as a serious game. The system is composed of four interacting submodels representing core economic sectors on Maui: food, water, energy, and waste. Through cooperation and compromise, players can work to maximize their individual sector scores and a combined total score. Scores reflect how closely scenarios devised by the players achieve the Ulupono Initiative goals, minimize economic tradeoffs to stakeholders of implementing policy decisions, and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Results from the simulation indicate that the Ulupono Initiative goals are attainable through policy decisions that promote local food production and renewable energy resource development. However, achieving the Ulupono Initiatives come at a great expense that would be borne by local governments.