Could It Happen Here?<\/b> The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering buying out owners of 17,000 houses in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. The Los Angeles Times<\/i> reported last month that the Corps had until now restricted such buyout offers to areas prone to river flooding. \u201cSome people, such as Susan I. Rees, the director of the Corps project, believe the current assessment is the beginning of a serious national debate on whether Americans should retreat from the coasts,\u201d wrote Jennie Jarvie for the Times<\/i>. \u201cThe costs and risks of future flooding are simply too great, they say \u2013 especially if, as many believe, sea levels are rising and hurricanes are starting to get stronger.\u201d The cost of the buy-out could be as high as $10 billion.<\/p>\n
\tOrrin H. Pilkey Jr., a Duke University professor and expert on shifting coastlines,
\n told the Times<\/i>, \u201cUltimately, a retreat is our only solution.\u201d A study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2000 estimated that by 2060, one in four homes within 500 feet of the coast could be threatened by coastal erosion.<\/p>\n
\tBuy-outs are not the only possible response to rising seas. \u201cAnother potential option is for the government to stop allowing those who live along the coast to rebuild their homes after hurricanes and storms,\u201d the article noted.<\/p>\n
\tIn any case, the prospect of a buy-out of coastal properties in Hawai`i, or anywhere else in the country, for that matter, is remote. Corps officials told the Times<\/i> they had no plan to extend the project to other regions.<\/p>\n
Expert Opinion:<\/b> How much water does it take to grow good taro? During a contested case hearing in late 2005 before the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, a University of Hawai`i taro researcher, testifying on behalf of the East Maui Irrigation Co., stated that only 30,000 gallons of water per acre per day are needed to grow taro. Testifying as an expert witness for several East Maui taro farmers, O`ahu taro farmer Paul Reppun argued that taro needs 100,000 to 300,000 gallons of water per acre per day.<\/p>\n
A new U.S. Geological Survey report that looked at water use in taro growing areas across the state suggests that Reppun\u2019s estimates were closer to the mark.<\/p>\n
The 2007 study, Water Use in Wetland Kalo Cultivation in Hawai\u2018i,<\/i> was conducted by Stephen B. Gingerich, Chiu W. Yeung, Tracy-Joy N. Ibarra, and John A. Engott and prepared in cooperation with the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs. After conducting water flow and temperature studies throughout 2005, the researchers found that the average inflow for the 19 lo`i complexes it measured was 260,000 gallons per acre per day, with a median inflow of 150,000 gallons. Inflow at 17 windward sites averaged 270,000 gallons per acre per day, while two leeward sites averaged 150,000 gallons. The average inflow at a handful windward lo`i was as high as 370,000 gallons per acre per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese inflow values are consistent with previously reported values for inflow and are significantly higher than values generally estimated for water consumption during kalo cultivation. These measurements of inflow are important for future considerations of water-use requirements for successful kalo cultivation,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n
And the Award Goes To..:<\/b> Us! On October 15, the Hawai`i Audubon Society honored Environment Hawai`i<\/i> with its 2007 environmental journalism award for our years of outstanding work. Past recipients have included former Honolulu Advsertiser<\/i> columnist Bob Krass and Paul Koberstein, editor of Cascadia Times,<\/i> an Oregon publication that published \u201cRogues of the Pacific\u201d in 2006, a compilation of several critical articles about Western Pacific Fishery Management Council.<\/p>\n
Other awardees this year were Peter Young, former director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, who received the society\u2019s presidential award, and the Hawai`i Conservation Alliance and DLNR biologist Scott Fretz, who received awards for their conservation and education efforts.<\/p>\n
Volume 18, Number 5 — November 2005<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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