Kahuku devises flood control plan
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAHUKU — Twelve years after a 100-year storm flooded the Kahuku area and left fish in the streets, a collaborative effort involving the community, federal and state government, and a private landowner has come up with a flood-control proposal intended to benefit residents and wildlife and pave the way for growth.
Kahuku residents and farmers, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and The Estate of James Campbell have devised a dual-purpose project that provides flood control in the community and an expanded bird sanctuary at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, north of Kahuku between the town and Turtle Bay Resort.
The proposal calls for the purchase of approximately 800 acres of land, including farm land, that surrounds the refuge; a $15 million flood control project; the extension of farm leases for up to 20 years; and a relocation package to farmers displaced by the project. Federal money will be used to purchase the land, move farmers and pay for 65 percent of the flood control project. The state is expected to kick in 35 percent of the cost of flood control work.
Inouye's office became involved two years ago after the community had been struggling for a decade to find a flood control solution, a quest that began in 1991 when heavy rains left some areas under three feet of water, overflowed bridges and closed Kamehameha Highway, said Ralph Makaiau, who has pushed for flood mitigation ever since.
"This plan is a proposal from the community," Makaiau said. "Sen. Inouye has been a godsend in assisting us."
The "common-sense" plan will benefit the community from Kawela to La'ie, he said, and includes building grassy swales from Kahuku bridges to the ocean. Already the state has redesigned three bridges in Kahuku as part of the overall project, Makaiau said.
Since the 1991 storm the area has been unable to grow or improve because flood issues prevented people from getting loans to build, purchase homes or develop businesses in Kahuku.
"We received a report from the Ko'olauloa Vision Team that said flooding of the area was the greatest impediment to economic sustainability," said Jennifer Goto Sabas, Inouye's chief of staff in Hawai'i. "Whether it was new business or trying to improve their schools, nothing was moving because of the flood problem."
According to a 1998 flood study, Kahuku receives storm water from streams and gulches from Turtle Bay to Malaekahana, a distance of four miles. The area's natural flood outlets to the sea are either too small or have been closed by development, the study said.
Preliminary work and plans have been set in motion, including projects in the community to clean culverts and build bridges that don't impede water flow, Sabas said. Some $3 million has been allotted for land purchase, with more money to be requested in coming years.
The flood plan will include diverting rainwater to the refuge and enhancing water flow there. The land purchase, which is necessary to begin flood control, should be completed before 2006, Sabas said, adding that negotiations should begin soon.
But before moving forward, Inouye's office wanted the community to approve the proposal, Sabas said.
It has received generally broad support.
This month, after hearing testimony from the community, the Ko'olauloa Neighborhood Board unanimously supported a motion urging the state and federal agencies to work together on the proposal and take into consideration the protection of agriculture land.
But some farmers see the loss of farm land as a step backward from the community's own sustainable community plan that supports farming and job retention, said Richard Spencer, co-owner of Hawaiian Marine Enterprises, which raises tropical fish and ogo in Kahuku.
Spencer said some 400 acres of farm land and 50 to 100 jobs will be affected by the sale of the property to Fish & Wildlife. He questioned Fish & Wildlife's ability to manage a farm lease.
"Farmers want flood mitigation too, but we also know it can be achieved without affecting the current arable land that's in production," he said.
Spencer would like the best of the lands being proposed for the sale to be retained by the state along with the infrastructure he and other farmers have installed so the acreage can remain productive.
Campbell Estate is pleased with the proposal, said Theresia McMurdo, the estate's public relations manager, "especially from the perspective that it supports the community's need and it supports the surrounding land because flooding is the number one issue here."
The farmers will receive a 20-year lease extension from Fish & Wildlife, an extension that is not included in the farmers' present leases that are up in six to 11 years, McMurdo said. Under this agreement, farmers have the option to continue to operate and try to get the state to intervene or they will be moved at federal expense.
Residents from Kahuku Village and representatives from the high school also supported the proposal, McMurdo said.
MaryAnne Long, Ko'o-lauloa Neighborhood Board chairwoman, said the community collaborated and compromised to come up with this solution.
"Without a flood control project, plans for 177 homes for Kahuku villagers, future build-out of the Kahuku High campus and other needed community improvements cannot go forward," Long said.
Lisa DeLong, Kahuku High principal, said the flood control measure enables the school to pursue plans to build new classrooms, a library, sports complex and music room.
"It will allow us to move forward on the purchase of 23 acres so we can implement our master plan," DeLong said.
Fish & Wildlife refuge manager Donna Stovall said the project is a service both to the residents through flood mitigation and to wildlife.
"After years and years of trying to do something, this is the most viable option," Stovall said.
