{"id":12188,"date":"2020-01-30T23:49:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T23:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=12188"},"modified":"2020-09-24T17:30:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T17:30:28","slug":"board-talk-board-grants-entry-permit-to-maintain-kauai-ditch-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=12188","title":{"rendered":"Board Talk: Board Grants Entry Permit To Maintain Kaua\u2018i Ditch System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Wailua reservoir.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last year, when renewing several revocable permits to water users in the process of acquiring long-term leases from the Land Board, the DLNR\u2019s Land Division reported that one longtime permittee was dropping out. The East Kaua\u2018i Water Users\u2019 Cooperative, which used the water it diverted for agricultural purposes, informed the division that it simply could not afford to complete the steps necessary to secure a lease (compliance with the state environmental review law and the development of and financial contribution to a watershed management plan) and to operate the old sugarcane plantation irrigation system that fed its lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to cooperative president Jerry Ornellas, \u201cThe system includes Wailua Reservoir, fed by a diversion on the North Fork of the Wailua River, Upper Kapahi Reservoir, fed by Kapa\u2018a Stream, and all related lateral ditches. It also includes the ditches on the [state Agribusiness Development Corporation\u2019s] Kalepa lands which are fed by Hanamaulu Ditch under an agreement with Grove Farm for water delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 21-mile system serves more than 12,500 acres of agricultural land and its repair and maintenance is critical for farmers who depend on it, Hawai\u2018i Farm Bureau executive director Brian Miyamoto stated in testimony to the Legislature last year on a bill (House Bill 769) that would have transferred a portion of the system to the state Department of Agriculture (DOA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the demise of plantation operations across the islands, we have seen the erosion of irrigation systems. Ditches that carried water fell into disrepair with major leaks in the system, and in cases such as Ka\u2018u, cracks in tunnels created enough losses that there is no longer significant flow of water,\u201d Miyamoto wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Land Division\u2019s Ian Hirokawa explained to the Land Board last October that HB 769 failed and that his agency did not have the staff or expertise to take over the system, board members expressed their concern about the possibility that the system would fall into irreparable disrepair if abandoned, pulling the state further away from its food sustainability goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 10, as a stop-gap measure, the division recommended that the board grant a right-of-entry permit to Seymour Resources Hawai\u2018i, Inc., a family-run company that would serve as an interim manager of the system until a long-term solution could be worked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s kind of a lot of potential different actions in play,\u201d Hirokawa said. He mentioned a revived attempt this year to get the Legislature to transfer the system to the DOA. \u201cIf no other agency comes forward, we\u2019re going to move forward with studies to shut down the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In support of the proposed permit, Hirokawa said the Land Division wants a manager in place to address public health and safety issues in the meantime, because reservoirs and ditches can\u2019t just be abandoned. The manager would also ensure the system remains viable, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seymour would not be distributing water to anyone, he continued, adding that his division is working with the cooperative to secure a longer-term operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not paying them for this. We\u2019re simply giving him access to the system,\u201d he said. The division asked that the Land Board waive the cooperative\u2019s permit requirement to conduct a Phase 1 environmental site assessment, since that would be an expensive undertaking and the historical use of the system was limited to agricultural uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re requesting a waiver of the Phase 1 as to the prior user. So, in other words … you\u2019re saying you checked it out. You think it\u2019s a situation that calls for one,\u201d asked Land Board chair and DLNR director Suzanne Case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a ditch. The reservoir looks like a standard operation,\u201d Hirokawa replied. He said his division\u2019s staff had inspected the intakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To company manager Brad Seymour, Land Board member Chris Yuen asked, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a little rude question of the applicant, okay, what\u2019s in it for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seymour said he grew up on Kaua\u2018i and his father worked for the sugar plantation. \u201cWhen I look at the east side of Kaua\u2018i, the only way to have viable agriculture is this system. … I would like to see agriculture over subdivisions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s terrific,\u201d Yuen replied before asking Hirokawa why the board wasn\u2019t being asked to let the company deliver water to farmers while they maintain the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, the permit was a stop-gap measure, Hirokawa said. If or when the company becomes a contractor for the division and gets paid for its work, \u201cI don\u2019t know if we would pay them without having people pay for the water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s also a water permit question,which drove this shutdown in the first place,\u201d Case added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuen suggested that the board could issue a water use permit, but Hirokawa said the same issues that bedeviled the co-op remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the permit, Seymour would simply do things like clear fallen trees out of the ditches and maintain water levels in the reservoirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Land Board member Keone Downing testified in support of the Land Board giving the company an opportunity to understand the system. If the company ever bids to be a long-term manager of the system \u201che\u2019ll know what it costs. … He\u2019s from Kaua\u2018i. I know he probably plans to live and die there. He\u2019ll come up with something fair for people to succeed,\u201d Downing said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board then unanimously approved the permit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, when renewing several revocable permits to water users in the process of acquiring long-term leases from the Land Board, the DLNR’s Land Division reported that one longtime permittee was dropping out. The East Kaua‘i Water Users’ Cooperative, which … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,464],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-12188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-board-talk","category-february-2020","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}