Support West Kauaʻi Community’s Call for EIS on Hydro-solar Energy Project

Dear Stream Protectors and Climate Justice Warriors,

At the root of (energy) injustice is the failure of decision makers to understand and address the full extent of the impacts and burdens that energy development has on the environment and on communities – especially those whose voices have been historically ignored or suppressed. The new hydro-electric project proposed for Waimea River on Kauaʻi’s west side is a textbook example that we should be learning from. 

Here’s the set-up:

Wai is the fundamental wealth we all need to live. Particularly in Hawaiʻi, streams are and always have been the lifeblood of local communities. That is why we work hard to protect them. When streams are healthy, everything around them is healthy. Native ecosystems thrive mauka to makai, supporting traditional and customary gathering, fishing, and farming as well as the many other social, cultural, recreational, and economic benefits dependent upon our environmental integrity. 

We know the devastating impact that stream diversions have on the people and native ecosystems that depend on those streams. A century of sugar plantation diversions, now abandoned, robbed West Kauaʻi communities of their natural wealth. Despite the hardship, homegrown West Kauaʻi farmers are successfully doubling down on traditional, truly sustainable methods of farming to restore the ʻāina and inspire keiki to take part in building and maintaining a resilient future for themselves and future generations. 

That is why it is especially concerning that KIUC is proposing to build a new hydropower plant on top of an old sugar plantation to divert – and never return – millions of gallons of water from the Waimea River everyday. And what really raises the alert level is their insistence on completing a much less thorough Environmental Assessment (EA), and not a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  KIUC has opted to publish 2 EAs, instead of an EIS. Why?! There are so many reasons why an EIS is required for this project. 

Why West Kauaʻi Energy Project triggers an EIS:

• Creates a lasting environmental injustice for West Kauaʻi. The majority of electricity produced from the hydropower operation on the Waimea River will not be used in Waimea, or West Kauaʻi. Most of the electricity will be used by ratepayers in places like Līhue, Kapaʻa, and Princeville. This creates an imbalance, where communities are saddled with industrial land uses that undermine their well-being, but are not in control of how the project is operated or benefits distributed. An EIS would help assess the impacts of this project and minimum expectations for a robust community benefits package that respects the residents and environment of West Kauaʻi.

• It proposes a consumptive use of stream water from state lands. 11 million gallons of water to be diverted (and not returned) from Waimea River everyday, as measured over a year. This means taking 2 million gallons in the dry months and as much as 26 million gallons in the wet months. How will this impact farming practices dependent upon cool, fresh flowing water? How will this impact cultural and subsistence resources and practices dependent upon natural ecosystems and processes tied to water? How could this impact public health, from the creation of mosquito breeding grounds to the social determinants of health connected to the health of and access to ʻāina? An EIS will ensure that these questions and potential impacts are more fully considered and accounted for.

• The conservation district requires a heightened level of scrutiny. The WKEP project will take place in the state conservation district, which contains lands identified as requiring the highest degree of protection. The use of tracked backhoes, cement mixers, and other heavy equipment to alter the diversions and build the new hydro-power facility could damage between 427 and 1,039 acres of protected and important habitat. The full scrutiny of an EIS, including proposed alternatives and mitigation measures, must be employed to identify and prevent unnecessary or unjustified harms.

• Requires long-term lease to access state lands for the purpose of diverting the public’s water. KIUC is hoping to secure a 65-year lease term to divert water for the WKEP. That is an absurd request given the high level of uncertainty we live in now; just as absurd is the contention that this would have no likely significant effect, especially over time.

• Requires a Clean Water Act permit to discharge used-stream water into the ocean. In the campaign to hold pesticide companies accountable for their pollution, we learned that the run-off from the Mānā Plain is very polluted with chemicals. KIUC is proposing to release water onto the Mānā Plain, with the potential to spread harmful pollution to adjacent areas, including streams and coastlines.

That is why the residents of West Kauaʻi are asking for your help in amplifying their call for a full EIS.

TAKE ACTION NOW: Email Lauren.E.Yasaka@hawaii.gov as soon as can. Comments due: Oct. 10, 2022

Your email will be sent directly to DLNR staff about why a full EIS is required for the WKEP.  Use these talking points and questions to express your concerns to decision makers in your own words.  Taking 2 minutes to personalize your comments with how stream issues affect you“I gather hīhīwai at this particular stream” or “I have seen the affects of drought already depleting the streams.” Your personal experience makes them 2x more effective.

SUBJECT: Public Comment: EIS Required for WKEP 

Aloha Ms. Yasaka,

I am writing to request a full environmental impact statement for the West Kauaʻi Energy Project being proposed by the Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative.  The second environmental assessment they published raises more questions than answers about how this project will affect the health of Waimea River, and the quality of life for Waimea residents. 

For example, millions of gallons of water will be diverted every day with this project.  How will this impact farming practices and estuaries dependent upon cool, fresh flowing water?  How will this impact cultural and subsistence resources and practices associated with natural ecosystems and processes tied to water?  How could this impact public health, from the potential creation of mosquito breeding grounds during low-flow periods to the various social determinants of health connected to the health of and access to ʻāina? 

What are the full impacts of the proposed industrial activities, including the use of tracked backhoes, cement mixers, and other heavy equipment in the conservation district? What can be done to avoid or minimize the potential impacts to between 427 and 1,039 acres of protected habitat? 

What are the ways that surrounding communities may be disproportionately impacted by the above, and how can any particular and unique burdens be mitigated or avoided?  

An EIS will ensure that these questions and potential impacts are more fully considered and accounted for.

Mahalo for the opportunity,

(your name)”