Tag: east maui

April 18, 2011 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Dengue fever fight comes home

Nelsa Sadaya used a simple mixture of tap water and dishwashing soap to spray dozens of potted plants surrounding her Kalihi Valley home yesterday to try to stop the spread of dengue fever.

Sadaya also learned yesterday that a similar solution of water and vegetable oil also helps kill mosquitoes — while sparing her plants.

“Mosquitoes everywhere,” Sadaya said. “This is simple.”

With the state’s mosquito-killing efforts nearly wiped out from budget cuts, state Rep. John Mizuno (D, Kalihi) and City Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, whose district includes Kalihi Valley, encouraged Sadaya and her husband, Zaldy, to fill the gap in Hawaii’s mosquito eradication efforts themselves yesterday by pouring out standing water and by spraying plants with diluted vegetable oil or dishwashing soap.

“Everyone can take their own preventative measures,” Gabbard Tamayo said. “Each and every one of us has to do our part. … This is not isolated to Kalihi Valley. This is a statewide issue.”

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December 6, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Appraisal — County buyout equals pricey water on Lanai

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.

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November 19, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Arakawa: Plenty of water for meter list

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.

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May 30, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Thielen: Water decision meets most demands – The Maui News

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By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer

State Commission on Water Resource Management Chairwoman Laura Thielen on Friday called the panel’s decision last week to put millions of gallons of water a day back into East Maui’s streams "groundbreaking."

For more than 125 years, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. has diverted water from the East Maui watershed for its sugar cane cultivation in Central Maui. Maui County also uses stream water to supply 10,000 customers Upcountry, including farmers and ranchers.

In a statement issued by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which Thielen also heads, she called Tuesday’s 5-1 vote during a Paia meeting "a flexible approach that meets most of the needs of competing water demands."

The commission’s decision also "strongly emphasized responsible management of public trust resources," Thielen said. For the first time, HC&S must monitor and report water in its irrigation system to the state. And Maui County must fix its leaky Waikamoi flume within three years, a process already under way.

"Maui County and HC&S need to make the necessary investments to repair existing infrastructure and to develop responsible and reliable alternative water sources to meet their critical domestic and agricultural water needs," Thielen said.

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May 26, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Compromise decision reached on East Maui water diversion – The Maui News

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PAIA — State Commission on Water Resource Management members reached a historic compromise late Tuesday night, returning some water to six East Maui streams, but leaving both sides in the water dispute dissatisfied.

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar General Manager Chris Benjamin called it "another bite from the apple," noting that the commission’s action came in addition to losing millions of gallons a day in eight other streams in a commission decision two years ago. HC&S also is awaiting a contested case ruling that could mean that Hawaii’s last sugar producer will lose another 34.5 million gallons a day in the Central Maui Na Wai Eha, or four great streams, debate.

The complainants’ attorney, Alan Murakami, of Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., immediately called for — and had recognized — a contested case hearing request the moment the proceedings ended. That means the plaintiffs will seek binding arbitration for another, more favorable result.

The commission voted to restore water to four streams only in the wet season, Waikamoi, West and East Wailuaiki and Waiohue, with 1.68 million gallons per day, 2.46 mgd, 2.39 mdg and 2.07 mdg, respectively. In the dry season, West and East Wailuaiki and Waiohue will get 0.26 mgd, 0.13 mgd and 0.06 mgd, respectively.

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