At its February 14 meeting in Kona, after hours of testimony and discussion, the Commission on Water Resource Management denied a petition filed by the National Park Service (NPS) in September 2013 to designate the Keauhou aquifer system as a … Continued
A new technical report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggests that climate change-induced sea level rise over the course of this century, especially in Hawai`i, may be far worse than predicted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate … Continued
Lead Removal in Kona: The Hawai`i County Department of Environmental Management has been granted a Conservation District Use Permit to remediate an abandoned metal salvage site in Kealakehe, in the North Kona district of the Big Island. At a recent … Continued
For the fifth year in a row, bills intended to make it easier and cheaper for landowners to retain legally built shoreline structures that, through shoreline erosion, are now on public land have either been stalled or deferred. Senate Bill … Continued
Last August, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the continuation of all the revocable permits issued by the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, except those for the Honokohau small boat harbor … Continued
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its recovery plan for the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat in April 1998, it didn’t consider wind farms to be a threat to the species. At the time, potential threats included habitat loss, … Continued
Operators of Hawai`i’s wind farms are poised to spend more than $4 million on efforts to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat, and may eventually spend up to $6 million. “We’re starting a massive research push,” … Continued
Having been pushed back a month from its previously scheduled time, the re-opened contested case hearing on amendments to the interim instream flow standards (IIFS) of some two dozen East Maui streams begins on February 6 at Maui Community College and … Continued
Hoping to spur a resolution of a years- long dispute over stream water in West Kaua‘i, the state Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) approved a five-year lease to the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) for its Pu‘u Opae hydropower project. The … Continued
Land Board Grants One-Year Holdover Allowing A&B to Divert East Maui Streams “I think it’s important to keep in mind it’s been ‘just one more year’ for 30 years,” Office of Hawaiian Affairs public policy advocate Wayne Tanaka told the Board … Continued