Spotlight: AES West Kauaʻi pumped hydro + solar project diverts millions of gallons from Waimea River
Kauaʻi Island Cooperative (KIUC) and AES global power corporation are planning to build a “pathbreaking” energy project that will provide 35 megawatts of utility scale solar and hydro power at a rate of $71.60 per megawatt-hour for 25 years. Due to the nature of the project, it will also require capacity payments of almost $9million per year. But apart from the economic costs, it is critical to take a step back and look at the impacts a project at this scale will have on streams and communities that depend on them.
Streams are the lifeblood of a community. That is why we work hard to protect them. When streams are healthy, everything around them is healthy and vibrant. Native ecosystems thrive mauka to makai, supporting traditional and customary gathering, fishing, and farming. Wai is the fundamental wealth we all need to endure.
We know the devastating impact that stream diversions have on the people and wildlife that depend on those streams. A century of sugar plantation diversions, now abandoned, robbed West Kauaʻi communities of their natural waiwai. Despite the hardship, homegrown West Kauaʻi farmers are successfully doubling down on traditional, truly sustainable methods of farming to restore the ʻāina and inspire the keiki.
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.
That is why, whether you are a resident of Kauaʻi or not, the communities of West Kauaʻi are asking for your help in amplifying their call for a full EIS on the West Kauaʻi Energy Project.
How you can help right now: Email Lauren.E.Yasaka@hawaii.gov as soon as can. Comments due: Oct. 10, 2022
TAKE ACTION NOW: Please send an email directly to DLNR staff about why a full EIS is required for the WKEP. Use these talking points and questions to express your concerns in your own words to decision makers. Taking 2 minutes to personalize your comments makes them 2x more powerful and effective.
Sample message:
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.
Mahalo,
(your name)
Talking points to add to the message above:
Why WKEP 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.
Requires a Conservation District Use Permit to construct in a conservation district
This area is a state conservation district. 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.
Requires long-term lease to access state lands for the purpose of diverting the public’s water
To divert public trust water from public lands, a diverter must secure a long-term lease – as opposed to all of those temporary permits you have heard so much about. KIUC is hoping to secure a 65-year lease term. That is an absurd request given the high level of uncertainty we live now, no lease for the publicʻs water should be longer than 30 years.
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, creating more run-off over polluted industrial ag lands.