honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, April 2, 2006

COMMENTARY
Poor land-use practices led to disaster

By Taylor Rock, Laura LaFrance and India Clark

A worker examines the basin at the foot of Morita Reservoir, created by floodwaters from the failed Kaloko dam upstream. Three graduate students in urban and regional planning at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa say the urbanization of land unsuited for that use is putting people in harm's way.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

spacer spacer

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED

The senate committee on Water, Land and Agriculture will hold a hearing on the latest version of HB 1368, HD2, the "Hokuli'a" bill, at 1 p.m. Tomorrow in conference room 212 at the state capitol. For more information contact committee chairman Sen. Russell Kokubun, 586-6760.

spacer spacer

Much of the public discussion of the Kaloko Reservoir dam breach has focused on blame. While this type of discussion may eventually make some lawyers wealthier, we should instead be focusing on the underlying causes, rather than who happened to be the landowner at the time, or whether state officials had properly monitored the dam.

The underlying cause of this disaster centers on the historic manipulation of water in the state and poor land-use practices — particularly, inappropriately developing lands zoned for agriculture.

We are in a third era of transforming the rural landscapes of Hawai'i. The first came with Hawaiian settlement, when some lowland areas were cleared for agriculture and village use. The second era came with the rise of plantation agriculture and large-scale ranching in the 19th century. These changes were much more massive than those caused by Hawaiian settlement, with entire landscapes transformed from forests into farms, and streams diverted for profit. One measure of this change is that 95 percent of Hawai'i's perennial streams have been diverted at least once.

The third era, where we are today, is the post-plantation period. Laid on the disfigured landscape left by plantation agriculture, lands are being transformed into what are essentially urban uses. Yet the basic infrastructure of the plantations — empty fields, irrigation systems and dams, such as the Kaloko Reservoir dam, remain. This is the essential cause of the Kaloko disaster — we have allowed the counties to allow urban uses such as "gentlemen's estates" to spread across land unsuited for that use, and in doing so, we have placed people in harm's way. Post-plantation land use and zoning needs must be addressed so our communities are not put in danger by poorly situated development.

Of course, it isn't supposed to be this way. Hawai'i actually has some of the most far-reaching and progressive land- and water-use laws in the United States. Our Land Use Commission was created in part to prevent sprawling development. Similarly, the state Commission on Water Resources Management was created to balance the need for consumptive uses of water with the obligation of the state to protect public trust values in water.

After many years of struggle, both of these agencies have done well in many cases, preventing the wholesale conversion of agricultural land and standing up for free-flowing streams. Yet under the relentless pressure of development, each agency also has struggled to fulfill its mandates. It has been politically expedient at times to underfund and understaff these agencies, so some bad developments go through, and century-old irrigation systems are allowed to continue to divert water from streams, even when there is no productive use for the waters.

Strangely enough, however, we are at a crossroads. While the mud is still wet on Kaua'i, our political leaders are heading in the opposite direction in terms of supporting these key agencies.

Three key initiatives demonstrate how promises made to the voters are being breached faster than any dam:

  • The Lingle administration continues its push to abolish the Land Use Commission in the name of streamlining government. This effort would put more power in the hands of the counties, but as we know from the Hokuli'a case, the counties are all too willing to subvert existing laws protecting agricultural land if it means increased revenue.

  • At the same time, legislators continue to push the "Hokuli'a fix" bill (HB1368, HD 2). It is still unclear whether the bill, which would allow for grandfathering of thousands of illegal agricultural lots as urban land, will be passed as it sits in the Senate.

  • Finally, under a third set of initiatives, many buried in the supplemental budget bills, the Legislature is considering huge tax breaks and direct subsidies for antiquated irrigation systems. Rather than supporting diversified agriculture, which has irrigation needs far different from that of sugar, these policies will continue to support large landowners who want to bring urban growth to their lands.

    At the same time, of course, it will lock in a long-unjust and unsustainable abuse of our streams and rivers.

    As graduate students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai'i, we are not opposed to development. There are strong arguments for development which few would dispute, such as the need for affordable and low-income housing. But the answer is not to dismantle and subvert the Land Use Commission and Commission on Water Resources Management. The answer is managed growth.

    How would we achieve that?

    First, development should not engulf prime agricultural lands, even if the land is fallow. Rather, we should look at diversified cash crops as a "backup" economy, and should support irrigation systems suited for these crops, not sugar.

    We also need to look at the relationship between land use and water supply. We need to take a hard look at outdated water-supply systems and develop in places where the land can naturally support it. Without conscious planning and land use, we will not only continue to lose beaches, reefs and clean tropical water, but we will lose more people as well.

    Finally, as an overarching principle, we need to develop around our natural resources instead of trying to force development in hazardous areas. We need to start working with water and land and stop trying to control and manipulate it for narrow economic gain. Today, economic priorities come first, social priorities are second and ecological priorities a distant third. By shifting our responsibilities so social and ecological priorities are first, the quality of life for all on these Islands will change for the better.

    This is not a time to look back and place blame, as we have done post-Kaloko. It is time to look forward and make conscious decisions about how we want our lives to be on these Islands we are lucky enough to call home.