Group News: Hawaiʻi Island, Maui
Hawaiʻi Island Group
Maunakea Update
By Deborah Ward | Reading time: 2 minutes
A spate of documents has been issued by the University of Hawaiʻi this month, with comments due in October.
Master Plan
The University of Hawaiʻi is seeking community feedback on a draft of a new Maunakea Master Plan that could guide land-use decisions on lands seized following the overthrow of the monarchy, and held in trust by DLNR, currently managed by the University. Some of the proposals include :
Lake Waiau at Maunakea
UH’s commitment to operate no more than nine operating astronomy facilities on Maunakea by December 31, 2033.**
Proposing mechanisms to seek and consider input from the native Hawaiian community and the broader community in the decision-making framework.
Operation of a newly planned UH Hilo Educational Telescope at Hale Pōhaku (the mid-level facility).
Establishment of a “Multi-disciplinary Field Station” at Hale Pōhaku to support field studies and learning experiences across disciplines.
**The General Lease held by the University requires full removal of structures and restoration of the summit region site at termination of the lease in 2033. The Master Plan is tied to a proposal expected to be published at the end of the year to extend the lease for the lands currently leased by the University beyond the lease expiration in 2033. There is significant opposition among many kiaʻi in the Hawaiian community to any lease extension.
The public can review and provide comments directly to the draft at the Maunakea Master Plan website, an online platform. UH is accepting input on this draft plan through October 26, 2021.
Decommissioning the CSO
Caltech, in cooperation with the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), has released its Draft Environmental Assessment and Anticipated Finding of No Significant Impact (DEA/AFONSI) as part of the planning effort required prior to decommissioning the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) located near the summit of Maunakea in Hawaiʻi. Link to Caltech Site Decommissioning Plan
Decommissioning Hōkū Keʻa
The Mauna Kea Management Board met recently to discuss the decommissioning of Hōkū Keʻa. As part of the requirements for the planned construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, Hōkū Keʻa is one of five telescopes slated for removal from the summit region. The decommissioning process cannot currently go forward until progress is made on construction of the new teaching telescope slated to replace the Hōkū Keʻa at Hale Pohaku. The decommissioning process for the University of Hawaii’s educational observatory on Maunakea could begin at the end of 2024. Link to the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Hōkū Keʻa Observatory Decommissioning Project
Redistricting Update
By Chuck Flaherty | 2 minutes
The County of Hawai'i 2021 Redistricting Commission has now had three meetings.
Members of the public are encouraged to create their own proposed redistricting map using the redistricting mapping tool. You can start by creating an online account and watching in instructional video at: https://redistricting.hawaii.esriemcs.com/redistricting/index.html
The only complete final plan that has been completed to date is by former county council member Brenda Ford. Once you create an account at the previously referenced website, go to the County of Hawaiʻi' s "Current Plan," then select "Recent Plans," then select "BrendaFord20" to see her proposed plan. You can use the current redistricting map from the 2010 census or Ms. Ford's map, which includes 2020 census counts, as a basis from which to start the creation of your own plan.
Common Cause Hawaiʻi has given testimony that included a request that incarcerated residents of Hawaiʻi be added to the base population at their last place of residence before incarceration: https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/1/doc/112437/Page1.aspx
David Rosenbrock, State Reapportionment Project Manager, gave an overview of the redistricting process and how census data is used to arrive at the base resident population. All members of the military, students, and undocumented individuals are considered non-residents and must be removed from the census data. His presentation can be viewed at https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/1/doc/110251/Page1.aspx
County Corporation Counsel also has given a presentation titled, "How to Draw Redistricting Plans That Will Stand Up in Court." That presentation can be viewed at: https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/1/doc/112424/Page1.aspx
The Commission's timeline can be viewed at: https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/1/doc/112440/Page1.aspx
The deadline for the public to submit draft plans is October 14, 2021.
Maui Group
Sierra Club Petitions for New Streamflow Minimums for 12 Forgotten East Maui Streams
By Lucienne de Naie | Reading time: 3 minutes
One of the 12 “forgotten streams” of East Maui - this is the top of what should naturally be a 50-foot waterfall.
Alexander & Baldwin, together with Mahi Pono, has been taking and wasting millions of gallons of stream water. More than half, and sometimes 80%, of the water, diverted from east Maui streams is wasted. These wasteful practices are going to get a hard look from the Water Commission now that we have filed a petition to set new minimum streamflows for the 12 forgotten streams of the Huelo area.
How we got here
In 1988, the Commission on Water Resource Management established interim instream flow for all of the streams in east Maui. The standard required that the minimum amount of water that must remain in each stream was whatever was flowing on June 15, 1988, the height of a hot, dry summer. Unfortunately, no one checked at the time to see how much water that actually was. The standard was not based on the biological, ecological, cultural, or recreational importance of the streams. In practice, this standard set no goals for stream flows and gave Alexander & Baldwin a blank check to divert as much water as possible for sugar production, removing all the baseflow from those streams and leaving them bone dry 80% of the time.
In 2001, Nā Moku Aupuni O Koʻolau Hui, an association of East Maui taro farmers, filed petitions to amend flow standard for approximately two dozen east Maui streams. It took 17 years for the Commission to give the community its decision. The Commission ordered full flows to be restored to nine streams. It required that five streams have at least 64% of their baseflow left in the stream system. It also allowed 80% of the base stream flow to be taken from eight of those streams. So the Water Commission’s decision on Nā Moku’s petition improved the conditions for many streams in East Maui. It was a step forward, but it wasn’t the full restoration of streams the community had asked for.
One quarter of East Maui’s diverted streams however, were not part of the Water Commission’s decision in 2018. These dozen or so streams were in the Huelo area where hundreds of rural residents live and farm. Last week, the Sierra Club filed a petition to enhance protections for these streams and give a voice to the communities and native stream life they support.. These streams are: Nailiʻilihaʻele Stream, Kailua Stream, Hanawana Stream, Hoalua Stream, Mokupapa Stream, Hoʻolawa Stream, Kōlea Stream, Punaluʻu Stream, Kaʻaiea Stream, ʻOʻopuola Stream, Puehu Stream and Waipio Stream.
Why this matters
The Sierra Club believes that taking all the water from any stream is wrong: ecologically, morally and legally. Just as one would not deprive a human of oxygen, it is simply wrong to deprive a stream of all of its water. There may be extraordinary circumstances that on rare occasions could justify the diversion of all of a stream’s baseflow, but it is impossible to conceive of any in this case. We are asking the Water Commission to set a minimum amount of water that must always be in these streams, so that these streams endure as vibrant, healthy ecosystems mauka to makai for generations to come.
The Division of Aquatic Resources and the Water Commission have concluded that 64% of a stream’s baseflow is the minimum viable flow necessary to provide suitable habitat conditions for recruitment, growth, and reproduction of native stream animals. At a minimum, 64% of the baseflow should remain in these streams to ensure that native species can grow and reproduce.
According to A&B’s stream biology consultant James Parham, there would be far more habitat for native species in our streams if they were allowed to flow naturally. According Parham’s study, the existing diversions on these 12 streams destroy more than 88% of the habitat that would be there if there were no diversions.
In 2020, the Division of Aquatic Resources identified four of these 12 streams (Oʻopuola, Naʻiliʻilihaele, Kailua, and Hoʻolawa streams) as “high priority” for restoration. The Sierra Club supports full restoration of streams wherever it is feasible. .
What happens now?
The Water Commission now has 180 days to respond to our petition for new minimum streamflows. If they accept it, then expect another very complicated contested case hearing. Like we learned in our previous trial against A&B’s wasteful take of water, it is going to take a lot of time, patience, and money to ensure the needs of our streams and local food production are well-balanced.
We need YOUR support to be successful. Can you contribute $100 today to help us protect streams from wasteful diversions?
First Water Maui Monitoring Training Held
East Maui residents are helping collect data on the health of Maui streams in their neighborhood, as part of the Sierra Club’s “Eyes on the Streams” monitoring project. The monitoring includes some of the “forgotten streams” of the Huelo area where the Club seeks to have flows restored.