Lualualei flood solution sought
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
NANAKULI — For nearly a week, flood waters have transformed about 100 acres of Lualualei Valley into a lake — the result of runoff from the Lualualei Naval Reservation after last week's heavy rains.
The water, which has not been able to drain, covers about three quarters of a mile of Pa'akea Road and much of the land around 'Ili'ili Road. The area has a long history of flooding, although nothing this severe since the mid-1990s because of an extended drought.
Ed Teixeira, vice director of state Civil Defense, visited the area yesterday and said Gov. Linda Lingle had signed a supplemental proclamation Monday night that extended to March 1 the emergency disaster measures she issued after the rains in December.
Teixeira said that would free up money for him to hire private contractors if necessary to come in to pump out the water.
"I've already contacted the city and county to see if they can get out there and pump," he said. "I've contacted the Department of Health to get them out with some inspectors to see the degree of health concerns."
Residents living in the area say flood waters, in addition to making driving precarious, have become a safety hazard. Several expressed concern at the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board meeting Tuesday night.
Lillian Pauline, who has lived in the flood zone for more than four decades, told the board the stagnant waters on Pa'akea and 'Ili'ili Roads are contaminated with chemicals and wastes from area farms.
Neighborhood Board member Cynthia Rezentes said one solution might be found in a $400,000 Lualualei Flood Study done by the Army Corps of Engineers after the last big flood, in 1996.
That study suggested flood prevention measures be done at a number of locations in the valley. The cost would be $35 million to $40 million, Rezentes said.
"But since 2001, that study has been sitting on a shelf somewhere," she said.
"OK — so how do we get it off the shelf?" Pauline said. "That's what we need to know. Because something needs to be done. It's not safe."
Rezentes said implementing the Lualualei Flood Study would require a high degree of cooperation among federal, state and city and county officials.
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
