Given the continuous delays in upgrading the spillway, the Engineering Division finally brought an enforcement action to the Land Board on April 9, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn 1921, a 5,000 cfs flood caused the failure of the dam, which was rebuilt with the existing 183-foot-wide spillway. A dam failure of the current dam would flood a significant portion of Waialua and Hale\u2018iwa towns. … To date, the safety deficiencies with the spillway have not been addressed,\u201d the staff report stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The division recommended fining Dole and Sustainable Hawai\u2018i $20,000 for failing to meet the March 1, 2021, deadline to submit a dam safety permit application. It also recommended that the companies be required to submit within 90 days an explanation for the differences between R.M. Towill\u2019s and the Army Corps\u2019 PMF numbers. The division also recommended giving the company six months to come up with a plan to address the spillway deficiencies and a year to submit a permit application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Division chief Carty Chang noted that while Dole was keeping the reservoir water level at 65 feet to reduce the risk of overtopping during a storm, he said that a large storm event could fill the reservoir in a matter of hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe count our blessings. However, what has not happened in the past cannot dictate what will happen tomorrow,\u201d he told the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Division staff reported that it is working with consultants to recalculate the probable maximum 24-hour rainfall at different areas statewide, which is what PMF estimates are based on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because that work won\u2019t be completed for another year or so, the division recommended that the rainfall estimate from a 1963 U.S. Department of Commerce publication, Hydrometeorological Report No. 39 (HMR 39), be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That report estimated a probable maximum precipitation (PMP) of 40 inches in 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bill Kappel, president of Applied Weather Associates, which is doing the PMP work for the Engineering Division, said that despite its age, HMR 39 is still a very useful document. \u201cUntil our work is completed … it should be the standard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edwin Matsuda, head of the dam safety division, suggested that even though Dole has improved its outlets to drain the reservoir faster, it\u2019s not enough to prevent overtopping if it fills during a big storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce it\u2019s at that level, they are unable to drain it back down to 65 (feet) for weeks. The whole watershed is slowly draining into the reservoir. … Even when the rain completely stops, they\u2019re probably able to drain at half a foot per day,\u201d Matsuda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nellis testified to the board that Dole has been making good faith efforts to improve the spillway and that one major setback has been that Dole was only recently made aware of potential faults in R.M. Towill\u2019s 2017 PMF study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile it appears that we are intentionally dragging our feet, that\u2019s not the case. We did get cost estimates based on studies that R.M. Towill did for us and they were excessive, up to $15 million.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that Dole has been looking for public and private funding, but is also looking to sell the reservoir to investors who want to generate hydroelectric power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDole Hawai\u2018i will probably go out of business if we have to dig out all this money on our own,\u201d he said, adding that levying fines for non-compliance \u201cis not going to get us to the end zone any faster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matsuda told the board that his division was not trying to be punitive. \u201cWe just want to see action taking place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kappel added that while 40 to 45 inches in 24 hours seems like an unbelievable amount of rain, \u201cwe\u2019ve seen it happen. Forty-nine inches fell in Kaua\u2018i in 24 hours. … How much risk do we want to tolerate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, the Land Board voted to approve the fine, but extended the division\u2019s proposed deadlines for the PMF justification and spillway plan by three months. It amended the deadline to submit the permit application to be six months after receipt of the dam safety program\u2019s comments on the PMF justification and spillway plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More Extensions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On May 13, the Engineering Division returned to the Land Board with a recommendation to extend the deadline to submit the permit application to November 1, 2023. It also recommended several interim deadlines to keep progress on track, as well as pre-approved penalties \u2014 ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 \u2014 for each missed deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nellis opposed the automatic penalties and said that fines should only be assessed if the Land Board determined Dole was not working in good faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that his company was in the process of selling the reservoir to the state. The budget bill passed this year by the Legislature was awaiting the governor\u2019s signature at press time and includes $26 million for the reservoir\u2019s purchase and spillway repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Land Board chair and DLNR director Suzanne Case said that because the Wahiawa Reservoir is \u201chigh profile, high risk … I just think it\u2019s better to keep the automatic deadlines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Board member Barnes noted that the Wahiawa Reservoir project was proceeding without updated guidance on storm risk that accounts for climate change. She asked what kind of insurance Dole held, in case there was any loss of life due to a dam failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not in a position to answer that. The dam may be insured by a third party. I\u2019m not sure,\u201d Nellis replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a risk there would be a cost to the state. … The board would potentially be liable or culpable,\u201d Barnes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nellis replied that it was way out of his expertise to comment on that. He said he was very confident the dam is not going to fail, in part because Dole is keeping the water level low. \u201cWe\u2019ve handled all of the big storms in the last 120 years,\u201d he said, adding that it has on site an \u201cinflatadam, which gives another cushion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barnes said she was worried about going through another wet season without any progress on the spillway. \u201cThe risk of loss of life is concerning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Land Board ultimately approved the recommendations, which included authorizing fines of $5,000 a day for any missed fine payments. Barnes dissented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Case suggested that the Engineering Division might want to review whether Sustainable Hawai\u2018i also carries some liability for the spillway\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sustainable Hawai\u2018i owns the spillway, but Dole apparently holds a lease for it. \u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “We’re already pushing our luck with a hundred-year-old dam,” said Aimee Barnes last month. Barnes was the sole member of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to vote against a recommendation by the Department of Land and Natural … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,497,28],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-14441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-board-talk","category-june-2022","category-water","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14441","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=14441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n\n\n\n