Appraisal — County buyout equals pricey water on Lanai

Published on December 6, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

WAILUKU – Earlier this year, the County Council demanded that the Lanai Co. “ask” for an appraisal of the value of its water company, with a view toward acquiring it to be part of the Department of Water Supply.

The appraisal by Brown & Caldwell is in. It estimates that if the county acquires the Lanai water system, rates would have to be raised nearly 900 percent, since costs of operation, new equipment and paying for the system would require nearly 10 times as much money as the $553,000 in revenue that the private company now enjoys.

On Tuesday, the Water Resources Committee, without comment, passed the agenda item on to the next council. If it had not done something, the Lanai proposal would have been filed.

Unresolved council projects expire automatically with the council that gave them birth, unless specific action is taken to pass the uncompleted work on to the next council. The next council will have five new members.

Mayor-elect Alan Arakawa has said since the beginning of his first term in 2003 that he wanted all water in the county to come under public control. That would include private water companies at Kapalua, Kaanapali, the Wailuku Water Co. and East Maui Irrigation.

However, during his first term, Arakawa did not acquire any private water for the county. Continue reading ‘Appraisal — County buyout equals pricey water on Lanai’

Piiholo South well deal dead for now

Published on December 1, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

WAILUKU – With mutual allegations of insincerity flying, the County Council Water Resources Committee on Tuesday decided to allow its resolution about exploring the possibility of acquiring the Piiholo South water well to expire.

However, committee Chairman Mike Victorino said he plans to revive the idea when the new council convenes in January.

Zachary Franks, co-managing director of Piiholo South, originally proposed selling his well to the Department of Water Supply, but he did not like the way the county responded. Tuesday, he asked the council to allow its resolution to expire.

“It was a complete failure,” he said.

He charged that Council Member Wayne Nishiki had introduced the resolution “with the primary, though unstated, purpose of derailing Kula Ridge. Prior to its introduction, Piiholo South, towards whom the resolution was putatively aimed, was not even notified by Mr. Nishiki of the resolution’s existence, let alone consulted with regard to its substance.”

When he did learn the framework of a proposal, he said it was “a disproportionate and unfair deal” that would have had Piiholo South “hand over” 95 percent of its well for free. That, he told, the committee “could never happen.”

Nishiki is not a member of the committee, but he usually attends its meetings. He was not present when Franks made his statement, but he came in later and accused Franks of not sincerely wanting to deal with the county. “As far as I am concerned, he can go back to the Mainland,” Nishiki said. Continue reading ‘Piiholo South well deal dead for now’

Public hearings set for Na Wai Eha water withdrawal applications

Published on November 30, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

PAIA – The state Commission on Water Resource Management will hold two days of hearings starting Wednesday on competing applications for withdrawal of water from Na Wai Eha, the surface water collection system that serves Central and South Maui.

During earlier proceedings, the commission received applications from existing users to continue withdrawing water pending a final commission decision on allocating the water resource. Most of the applications have been challenged because there likely will be less water allocated by the commission than the total of present withdrawals, even before applications for new uses are considered.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Paia Community Center, the commission will hear testimony from users to justify the reasonable and beneficial uses they intend for water.

The commission staff will present a new map, which graphically represents the users’ locations and the ditches and gates where they seek to draw off the water. Commission staff member Roy Hardy said the map should help sort out exactly which applications are in conflict.

Two commissioners, Neal Fujiwara and Sumner Erdman, will conduct the hearings. Continue reading ‘Public hearings set for Na Wai Eha water withdrawal applications’

Hawaii County considers wind farm for South Kohala

Published on November 30, 2010 in Alternative Energy, General Ag News and Notes and Water.

The Hawaii County Department of Water Supply is considering building a wind farm to power its South Kohala wells.

The department would lease about 80 acres of state land next to its Lalamilo wells and have a developer build the wind mills.

The project would create 50 construction jobs and three permanent jobs.

Department energy management analyst Julie Myhre says a wind farm built on the site in the mid-1980s has been decommissioned and the site has been cleaned up.

West Hawaii Today reported Monday the wind farm would save about $500,000 a year in electricity costs for the next 20 years.

A department spokeswoman says it’s too early to tell if the facility would generate excess energy to sell to Hawaii Electric Light Co.

Hawaii County considers wind farm for South Kohala – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

Arakawa names key water, finance directors

Published on November 30, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

WAILUKU – Maui County Mayor-elect Alan Arakawa named six new members to his Cabinet on Monday, including two key people to help him achieve his campaign goals, Danny Agsalog as director of the Department of Finance and Dave Taylor as director of the Department of Water Supply.

With the stumbling economy still heavy on most people’s minds, and job creation and finding more water on the lips of political candidates this election season, Arakawa chose people he was familiar with – and who are educated and experienced – to run the county’s finance and water departments, he said.

Arakawa also picked former longtime and award-winning television and print journalist Rod Antone as the county and mayor’s spokesman, replacing Mahina Martin. In addition, Arakawa chose deputy directors for the water and finance departments as well as for county communications. Continue reading ‘Arakawa names key water, finance directors’

Safety costs criticized – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

Published on November 28, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Sugar Cane and Water.

Many Hawaii farmers and ranchers say the cost of complying with proposed safety rules regulating dams and reservoirs will be more than they can afford and that they’ll be turning to the state Legislature for financial aid.

“We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Alan Gottlieb, a past president of the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council.

The proposed administrative rules were approved by the state land board Monday and forwarded to Gov. Linda Lingle. The governor’s approval is required before they take effect.

The rules would regulate 138 reservoirs in Hawaii that have the capacity to hold 5 million gallons or more.

State officials said the increases in fees would pay for costs of enforcing the new safety rules.

Critics say that besides the high cost, the regulations would discourage the operation of existing reservoirs, many of which operate on narrow profit margins.

One of the largest regulated reservoirs is at the city’s Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden in Kaneohe.

The reservoir, built as a flood-control project, usually stores 84.7 million gallons but has a capacity of 1.4 billion gallons, according to the state.

Farmers and ranchers say that while they support safety regulations in light of the 2006 Koloko Reservoir dam break on Kauai that killed seven people, the proposed rules place an unreasonable burden on businesses. Continue reading ‘Safety costs criticized – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com’

Kekaha farm owner has plans for much more than shrimp

Published on November 25, 2010 in Aquaculture, General Ag News and Notes and Water.

WAIMEA — Blessed with some of the purest seawater in the world and sunny growing conditions, the owners of the Kekaha shrimp farm have big plans for their small operation.

Currently producing white shrimp mainly for local consumption and broodstock for export around the world, Sunrise Capital, owned by the Mainland-based Integrated Aquaculture International, has plans to eventually produce everything from kahala, moi, oysters, clams, seaweed, even algae to produce jet fuel.

That makes them, as Dr. Carl Berg of Lihu‘e says, a concentrated aquatic animal production facility, something Dr. George Chamberlain agrees with.

Chamberlain is a director of Integrated Aquaculture International and president of the Global Aquaculture Alliance (gaalliance.org), and conducted a two-hour informational meeting about the Kekaha aquaculture farm at the Waimea Theatre, just before a state Department of Health public hearing on the farm’s application for a permit necessary to discharge farm effluent into the ocean.

The DOH will either approve or deny the continuation of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and monitored by DOH. Continue reading ‘Kekaha farm owner has plans for much more than shrimp’

VIEWPOINT: Sewage disposal is a serious matter

Published on November 24, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Injection Wells, Sustainability and Water.

Maui News staff writer Harry Eagar’s Nov. 15 column expressed unfounded opinions that trivialized a serious community issue. Sewage disposal is no laughing matter. It is a quality of life issue for all who live on Maui, our visitor industry and those voiceless ones who inhabit Maui’s waters.

Concerns about the connection between effluent disposal, water quality and reef decline are shared by scientists and environmental professionals tasked with safeguarding water and natural resources. The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources (hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/pubs/MauiReefDeclines.pdf) identified land-based pollutants as part of the problem causing coal decline. The Environmental Protection Agency ordered Maui County to characterize the pollutants in the effluent and to identify where the effluent goes after injection. The state Department of Health has declared coastal waters near the wells as impaired due to presence of nutrients and other pollutants (hawaii.gov/health/environmental/env-planning/wqm/2006_Integrated_Report/2006_Chapter_IV_Assessment_of_Waters.pdf).

There is substantial evidence that the effluents injected into the groundwater at county treatment plants is reaching the ocean. The presence of effluent indicators in ocean water was found by the University of Hawaii and the U.S. Geological Survey. There is no scientific evidence supporting Eagar’s assertion that coral not only eat sewage, but love it. Continue reading ‘VIEWPOINT: Sewage disposal is a serious matter’

Rain does little to ease drought

Published on November 22, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

The statewide drought appears to be easing as cooler La Nina conditions bring more rain to Hawaii, according to the National Weather Service.

But farmers and ranchers said a protracted amount of rain is needed before they can recover from several years of extremely dry conditions.

Some areas, such as southwestern Kauai and leeward sections of the Big Island and Maui, did not receive significant rainfall in October, continuing extreme drought conditions, National Weather Service officials said Friday.

Late Thursday, thunderstorms along with lightning passed by Hawaii, and most of the anticipated heavy rainfall missed the islands.

The weather service reported 0.15 inches of rain Thursday at Honolulu Airport and 0.6 inches at Lihue Airport but none for airports in Hilo and Kahului.

In October, while many places reported less than normal rainfall, some areas exceeded their normal monthly average, including Haiku on Maui with 5.71 inches — 12 percent above normal — and Honaunau on the Big Island with 5.54 inches of rain, 7 percent above normal. Continue reading ‘Rain does little to ease drought’

Hawaii utility receives $110M loan guarantee

Published on November 19, 2010 in Biofuels, General Ag News and Notes and Water.

HONOLULU (AP) — The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has received a $110 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Hawaii’s Democratic Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka said Thursday in a Washington news release that the loan guarantee will be used to expand renewable energy initiatives.

They say the guarantee includes nearly $73 million for hydroelectric plant improvements and a 10-megawatt naphtha/biodiesel fueled combustion turbine.

Inouye says the funds will help Kauai further harness the power of water and biofuel as part of the effort to lessen Kauai County’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Akaka says the homegrown energy sources keep dollars in Hawaii while reducing air, land and water pollution.

Hawaii utility receives $110M loan guarantee – Yahoo! Finance

Arakawa: Plenty of water for meter list

Published on November 19, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

KULA – Mayor-elect Alan Arakawa said Wednesday that the county had “more than adequate water supply” and that he hoped to begin issuing water meters to people on the Upcountry meter list within a few months of taking office.

Arakawa also said he planned to address what he thought were inequities in county regulations that required landowners applying for water meters to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on infrastructure or risk losing their place in line.

The incoming mayor was speaking at a meeting of the Kula Community Association, where he had been asked to speak on water concerns.

“Our administration intends to deal with the water issue head-on,” Arakawa said.

He said there was no question that enough water was available to meet Upcountry’s demands; the only question was how costly it would be and how long it would take to distribute it to the community.

He noted that the county’s Kamole Weir Water Treatment Facility, which was upgraded during his previous administration, now has a sustainable capacity of 6 million to 7 million gallons per day and is capable of treating up to 10 million gallons per day over short periods.

“We could cover all the Upcountry water meter requirements if we wanted to,” he said. Continue reading ‘Arakawa: Plenty of water for meter list’

Honoring the Surfer Andy Irons With a Paddle-Out

Published on November 19, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

Hundreds attended a paddle-out in Huntington Beach, Calif., to remember Andy Irons.

IT’S not uncommon for the number of surfers near the Huntington Beach Pier in Southern California to reach triple digits. But last Sunday, the headcount swelled to more than 500. The surfers were not jockeying for waves, though. They were bobbing on boards in the open water, holding hands in a large circle.

This was a “paddle-out,” the way surfers throughout the world honor their dead. It’s a floating memorial service, with flowers and reminiscing, but no dirges. The ceremony was for Andy Irons, a beloved world champion from Hawaii who died Nov. 2 at age 32, of as yet unexplained causes, in a hotel room in Dallas. Shocked members of the surfing community swiftly organized paddle-outs around the world: in Bali, Australia, Brazil, Spain, France, Italy, Virginia, Florida and Mr. Irons’s hometown, Hanalei, Kauai, as well as Huntington Beach, where Jim Kempton, a longtime surfer and former editor of Surfer magazine, was among the spectators on Sunday. “I don’t think I’ve seen a bigger one,” he said.

As many surfers tell it, the paddle-out stems from Polynesian tradition. Continue reading ‘Honoring the Surfer Andy Irons With a Paddle-Out’

Corals love sewage!

Published on November 15, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Injection Wells, Sustainability and Water.

This the a bit different from the Off Deadline column in today’s print edition. The editors took out the joke about vitamin C, and I’ve put it back in.

Psst! Wanna know a secret? The environmentalists don’t want you to hear this, but corals eat sewage. Really. They love the stuff. The Maui Wastewater Working Group held 13 meetings to convict treated sewage put down injection wells of killing reefs. It’s too bad they didn’t take a field trip to the Central Laboratory at the Kihei Wastewater Treatment Plant to see some effluent in action. Such visits are discouraged by the health monitors, but my wife does the testing and I’ve watched her. There are several tests, but the relevant one for injection wells puts a sample of treated wastewater – the PC name for sewage – through a centrifuge, which deposits whatever sewage is left on circles of glistening white filter paper. Filter is the key word here. Corals (and marine worms and lots of other reef critters) are filter feeders. The Kihei and Lahaina plants make R1 effluent, the good stuff, while Kahului makes R2, not as clean. Usually, when the plant is functioning well (which is most of the time), on most of the discs I cannot tell any difference between the clean and the sampled filter paper. On a few, there may be the faintest brown tinge. It takes a magnifying glass to tell sometimes. Continue reading ‘Corals love sewage!’

Measuring rain at the wettest spot on earth

Published on November 11, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

Editor’s note: On Dec. 3 the Kaua‘i Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary. Museum leaders have chosen 50 stories from exhibits, collections and archives of the museum to share with the public. One story will run daily through Dec. 3.

LIHU‘E — Recording rainfall is the job of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Resources Division.

The yearly trip to the summit of Wai‘ale‘ale was a source of high and perilous adventure ever since the task was first attempted over 100 years ago.

It first tackled by the survey’s District Engineer W.F. Martin in 1910. He trekked up the 5,080-foot mountain and placed a 50-gallon, galvanized can in the clearing overlooking Wailua. Four months later J.E. Mendes found it overflowing. So, in 1911, D.E. Homer carried a container that would measure 124 inches of rainfall up the jungle trails to the mountain’s summit — and it, too, was too small.

W.Y. Hardy tried next. He installed a 300-inch gage in 1915 and it overflowed. Next he put in a 600-inch gage which lasted a couple of years and in wet years was found to be overflowing. The history books fail to mention the party of local men that went along to carry the gage guided by Hulu Taniguchi, a cowboy at Gay & Robinson’s Makaweli Ranch. The trail would disappear just days after passing through.

Then in January 1920, District J.E. Stewart, Ben F. Rush, then chairman of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, and Hardy took the 990-inch gage up the mountain. It worked all right until it buckled and started leaking from being tipped over to empty. Max H. Carson, the next district engineer, solved that difficulty in 1928 by installing a 900-inch, reinforced container that could be drained through a valve in the bottom.

The next gage installation in 1938 was a day-to-day recording device that had to be split into 50 pound packs for the journey, the last leg on foot from the ranger’s station over the tundra-like summit. Hubert W. Beardin, an experienced mountain-climbing member of the survey force on Kaua‘i, dropped dead of a heart attack 300 feet from the summit. Continue reading ‘Measuring rain at the wettest spot on earth’

Sugar rush – Restating the Obvious by Harry Eagar – Mauinews.com

Published on November 5, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Sugar Cane and Water.

Funny how things work out. Our new mayor wants to take over plantation water systems (although when he had a chance four years ago, he backed down).

A couple of years ago, a combination of drought and low prices had HC&S on the ropes, and the board at A&B was beginning to wonder whether sugar was a business they wanted to be in. At best, it accounts for only about 7% of revenue. HC&S is such a small part of A&B that it cannot ever contribute largely to profits, although it can — and recently has — hammered them down.

Since A&B answers to Wall Street, which does not give a damn about Upcountry water meters, low sugar prices open the way to a county takeover of EMI. This would be a disaster, but, like I say, funny how things work out.

Arakawa’s in, sugar prices are up, A&B will presumably stick with HC&S for a while longer, the valley will be green and Kihei will not have to live through endless dust storms. Continue reading ‘Sugar rush – Restating the Obvious by Harry Eagar – Mauinews.com’

The Corrosion of America – NYTimes.com

Published on October 26, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

By BOB HERBERT

If you had a leak in your roof or in the kitchen or basement, you’d probably think it a good idea to have it taken care of before matters got worse, and more expensive.

If only we had the same attitude when it comes to the vast and intricately linked water systems in the United States. Most of us take clean and readily available water for granted. But the truth is that the nation’s water systems are in sorry shape — deteriorating even as the population grows and demand increases.

Aging and corroded pipes are bursting somewhere every couple of minutes. Dilapidated sewer systems are contaminating waterways and drinking water. Many local systems are so old and inadequate — in some cases, so utterly rotten — that they are overwhelmed by heavy rain.

As Charles Duhigg reported in The Times last March: “For decades, these systems — some built around the time of the Civil War — have been ignored by politicians and residents accustomed to paying almost nothing for water delivery and sewage removal. And so each year, hundreds of thousands of ruptures damage streets and homes and cause dangerous pollutants to seep into drinking water supplies.”

There is, of course, no reason for this to be the case. If this were a first-class society we would rebuild our water systems to the point where they would be the envy of the world, and that would bolster the economy in the bargain. Continue reading ‘The Corrosion of America – NYTimes.com’