{"id":15447,"date":"2023-11-02T11:19:17","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T21:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15447"},"modified":"2023-11-02T11:35:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T21:35:17","slug":"adc-agrees-to-million-dollar-settlement-anticipates-big-ask-for-irrigation-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15447","title":{"rendered":"ADC Agrees to Million-Dollar Settlement,\u00a0Anticipates Big Ask For Irrigation Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A decade ago, Environment Hawai\u02bbi<\/em> published a story titled, \u201cWater May Be Limiting Factor on Former Galbraith Ag Lands<\/a>.\u201d The subject: the limited water available to irrigate more than a thousand acres of land purchased by the state Agribusiness Development Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the agency has spent tens of millions of dollars acquiring more land in North-Central O\u02bbahu and building reservoirs, but it still lacks a water supply sufficient to make those lands fully productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next year, the state Legislature will be asked to appropriate $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2019 against the ADC by a former tenant, Ohana Best, LLC, which was formed by the owner of local produce distributor Aloha Products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohana Best claimed it was misled by the ADC about when enough water would be available to meet the irrigation needs of the company\u2019s 160-acre license area. A trial was set to begin this month, but the parties reached a settlement in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While $1.25 million may seem like a large sum, it still represents a loss for Ohana Best, compared to what the company spent improving its license area and the profits it could have earned had the ADC provided enough water, said the farm\u2019s attorney, Peter Chen Hsieh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also a pittance compared to what irrigation improvements to the former Galbraith Estate lands will cost. According to a consultant for the ADC, providing irrigation water to those lands will cost $178 million, spread across three phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan Mukai, a project manager with consultant Brown & Caldwell, laid it out at the ADC\u2019s board meeting last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Phase 1, estimated to cost $90 million, pipelines would be laid to allow the ADC to pump treated effluent from the City & County of Honolulu\u2019s Wahiawa Wastewater Treatment Plant to a 14-million-gallon reservoir. That alone would provide a steady source of irrigation water \u2014 an average of 1.6 million gallons a day \u2014 to the ADC\u2019s agricultural tenants. At the same time, it would help the city finally meet the terms of a decades-old consent decree with the state Department of Health aimed at ending the release of treated sewage from the Wahiawa reservoir, also known as Lake Wilson, into Kaukonahua Stream. It would also meet the DOH\u2019s storage requirements for R-1 recycled water. Currently, even though the effluent is treated to R-1 levels, it\u2019s still considered R-2 water, which has much more limited agricultural use. Finally, by ending the release of the effluent into the reservoir, it allows water from it to be used for unrestricted non-potable irrigation, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 2 would connect the 14 MG reservoir to the ADC\u2019s existing 10 MG and 3 MG reservoirs. Phase 3 would establish a system that could pump as much as 5.1 mgd from the Wahiawa reservoir to the ADC\u2019s irrigation system. Those phases were estimated to cost $33 million and $55 million, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mukai\u2019s presentation, bid solicitations for the three phases are expected to occur next year. The Phase 1 design is 90 percent complete; designs for phases 2 and 3 are at 60 percent and 45 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After hearing her presentation, ADC board members were clearly concerned about the estimated cost, which does not include operation and maintenance of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board member Glenn Hong suggested that the pipelines for phases 1 and 2 could be laid simultaneously, since they follow the same route in some areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mukai said that while they follow the same route, they would not run in the same trench and would, in fact, be on opposite sides of a road. Also, she said, the Phase 1 work is focused on meeting the terms of a memorandum of agreement between the city and the ADC regarding the city\u2019s effluent. The city will be doing upgrades simultaneously with Phase 1 to meet R-1 certification requirements and to get water to the ADC, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the project was broken up into phases to secure construction funds faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong asked whether locating the Wahiawa reservoir intake pump station in Phase 3 further mauka had been considered. The water would be cleaner and the higher elevation would allow for gravity flow, which is cheaper than pumping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cost of operation is going to be very high,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mukai replied that they had not evaluated anywhere else upstream because the land there is owned by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. \u201cWe weren\u2019t able to look at those areas as possible places for a pump station,\u201d she said, noting that the ADC would need to bring large vehicles onto the property for construction and maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, board member Dane Wicker said, \u201cWe have to find a way to lower that cost.\u201d He said he believed Dole had a pump station in Whitmore Village on lands that were later purchased by the ADC. \u201cYou might be able to look at where that intake was [and] whether it can be used. \u2026 It might make a shorter path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mukai stressed that what\u2019s being proposed is more than just an irrigation project. It\u2019s a joint effort by the city and the state to stop effluent flows into Lake Wilson and use the waters for a beneficial purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She argued that with climate change, it\u2019s important to use water and wastewater efficiently, \u201cso we are sustainable in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecycled effluent is a drought-proof source,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the board would also echo that. \u2026 This is an underutilized source,\u201d Wicker replied. The ADC\u2019s planned acquisition of the Wahiawa reservoir \u201cdovetails to that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, he said that lowering the project\u2019s cost at each phase would help in getting support from the Legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong noted that the potential water need for the former Galbraith lands is 5.4 mgd. With 1.6 mgd from wastewater and 5.1 mgd from the Wahiawa reservoir once all three phases are done, Hong asked whether the ADC would be able to sideline the Bott Well that now serves as the ADC land\u2019s main water source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not totally, according to Mukai. Leafy crops may be irrigated with R-1 water, but they can\u2019t be finished with it. \u201cYou have to finish with potable water,\u201d she said. Other than that, the well would be just a backup source, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong noted that the well is a very expensive water source, with its huge pumping costs. Whether or how much the proposed irrigation project costs will change before being brought to the Legislature remains to be seen. Mukai said she definitely understood the need for cost savings. \u201cWe\u2019ll keep that in mind, for sure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although his client has given up on trying to grow produce for her distribution company, Hsieh said the Galbraith lands do have potential. \u201cIf they find a way to get water there, farmers could do really well,\u201d he told Environment Hawai\u02bbi<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(For more background, see “Agribusiness Corporation Eyes Effluent\u00a0To Irrigate Former Galbraith Estate Lands<\/a>,” from our August 2016 issue.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A decade ago, Environment Hawaiʻi published a story titled, “Water May Be Limiting Factor on Former Galbraith Ag Lands.” The subject: the limited water available to irrigate more than a thousand acres of land purchased by the state Agribusiness Development … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,517,28],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-15447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-november-2023","category-water","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15447","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=15447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}