We need your help to protect Waiʻaleʻale & Waikoko Streams!
KIUC is currently seeking a 65-year lease to divert the the majority of the waters of Waiʻaleʻale and WaikokoStreams from the Lihue Forest Reserve, Kauai. Diverters seeking long-term leases are required to conduct either an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to determine what impact the diversions will have upon the environment and cultural practices.
KIUC has issued a draft EA and is seeking a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI). We need your help in conveying to the DLNR the very significant impacts that KIUC’s proposed diversions will have, and the need to do a more comprehensive environmental review.
KIUC’s 2019 Wailua Long Term Lease is available online at the OEQC library or you can google that name. We encourage you to read it for yourself. Here are some important points to consider including in your testimony. As much as possible, customize your testimony to include your knowledge of, and connection to the area:
1) KIUC should be required to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS):
An EA is an abbrevated form of environmental review. KIUC’s draft EA only considers two options:
1) keeping the existing plantation era diversions “as is” (no action alternative) or;
2) modifying the diversions to take over 2/3 the natural flow of the stream.
However, both alternatives will have significant impacts, and therefore the BLNR must require KIUC to prepare a full EIS which compares a range of alternatives.
KIUC’s EA compares their proposed take of over 2/3 the natural streamflow to a severely degraded stream environment. The existing regime of plantation diversions which take 100% of the stream baseflow should not be the baseline from which the BLNR gauges improvements. The BLNR must require KIUC to consider additional alternatives, including the increased or full restoration of these two streams.
The upper diversion at Waiʻaleʻale Stream takes the majority of the baseflow of the stream, dewatering the stream during low-flow periods.
KIUC maintains that diverting the majority of Waiʻaleʻale and Waikoko Streams is necessary for the operation of their hydropower plants to generate approximately 1% of the islands power. An EIS would require KIUC to explore other ways to meet their renewable energy goals with less or no diversions. Given the recent development of new technology such as batteries which can store solar power, KIUC should explore renewable energy sources which do not dewater streams.
2) The proposed amount of proposed streamflow restoration in the EA is too low:
The Commission on Water Resource Management is in the process of determining the minimum amount of water that can be left in both Waiʻaleʻale and Waikoko Streams and setting interim (low flow) instream flow standards (IIFS). When the Commission came to Kauaʻi to vet these standards the community sent a message, loud and clear, that the proposed 30% restoration was too low due to address the adverse cultural and environmental impacts. As the Commissioners began to debate how much to increase the streamflow restoration, KIUC called for a contested case, thus halting the process. Streamflow restoration advocates impacted by the diversions have joined the contested case. Despite community concerns, and the unresolved streamflow standards, KIUC uses the contested 30% restoration as the basis for their proposed diversions in the EA. This is yet another reason why an EA is insufficient, the BLNR should not assume any particular outcome in the contested case, but should explore multiple alternatives via an EIS. Procedurally it is hard to understand how KIUC’s proposal can be vetted without the interim instream flow standards being resolved. The amount of water KIUC can divert should be informed by the interim instream flow standards, not the other way around.
3) KIUC’s EA does not fully consider the impacts on traditional and customary practices:
The sacred waters of Waiʻaleʻale and the life-giving gourd they fill are revered throughout the paeʻāina and are recounted in numerous moʻoleo, like the great epic of Kauaʻi’s first Mōʻī Wahine Kaʻililauokekoa. The well know hula admission chant Kūnihi ka Mauna, which recounts part of Hiʻiaka and Pele's journey throughout the Hawaiian islands is another great example.
Please tell KIUC the specific ways that diverting the majority of the streamflow has and will impact your traditional and customary (T&C) practices.
KIUC’s EA does not sufficiently identify T&C practices in the area, such as fishing, gathering, and the ceremonial use of water. Nor does the EA provide sufficient analysis on how to mitigate the impact on the cultural practices in the area.
Moreover, the EA does not sufficiently recognize the overall cultural significance of Waiʻaleʻale, Waikoko and the entire ahupuaʻa of Wailua and the impact that the diversion structures have upon the area.
Please include any feedback on how the presence of these diversion structures impact your cultural practices, and whether you believe they are appropriate in this area.
It is important to note that these streams have been diverted and dewatered for over a century, since the plantation era. The opportunity to exercise cultural practices and rights for current and future generations should not be foreclosed because of the injustices of the past.
Even if you have not had the opportunity to partake in the traditional and customary practices of your ancestors you can still advocate for the opportunity to be able to do so in the future.
4) KIUC’s EA doesn’t sufficiently consider the effects of the diversions on public use:
This is one of the few places where the upper forest reserve is accessible for the public enjoyment and recreation on the east side of Kauaʻi. Families regularly travel up Loop Road to swim, gather, hunt, hike and enjoy the pristine waters of these mountain streams. It appears from the rendering in the EA that the swimming pool at the upper Waiʻaleʻale Stream diversion would be eliminated in the new proposed diversion. The new out of place diversion would not minimize, but increase the amount of concrete structure in the forest and stream environment, as well as the view planes. KIUC must consider less damaging alternatives in its EIS, including the removal of the diversions entirely.
Rendering of KIUC's proposed diversion at Waiʻaleʻale Stream.
5) KIUC’s EA doesn’t sufficiently consider the impact on the stream environment and protected species:
The EA does not suffiently analyze how the diversions and hyrdroplants impact native and protected species such as ʻoʻopu and ʻōpae. Nor does the EA consider the impact of herbicides used for maintenance along the ditches on native species and the larger ecosystem. These diversions are located in a conservation district which requires a greater level of scrutiny and protections. KIUC is also required to contribute to the care of the forest watershed via cost sharing and a watershed management plan. This is insufficiently addressed and requires a closer review in an EIS.
6) 65 years is too long for KIUC’s lease:
Long-term USGS studies have shown that rainfall and stream-flows in Hawaiʻi are steadily declining. The rate of decline is only anticipated to increase with climate change. Given the uncertainty of future climate change impacts it is hard to anticipate how accelerated these changes will be. With this level of uncertainty, a shorter lease is only prudent and would allow a more adaptive approach to the management of our vital streamflow resources. The BLNR should exercise the precautionary principal in any long-term lease water allocations. In this case, a period of 10-15 years would be more appropriate.
Public comments on KIUC’s draft environmental assessment (EA) are due by:
November 7th, 2019
Submit Comments To:
Department of Land and Natural Resources,
1151 Punchbowl St., Room 220, Honolulu, HI 96813
Ian.c.hirokawa@hawaii.gov
Submit Copies To:
SSFM International, Inc. (Consultant), jscheffel@ssfm.com
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (Applicant), dhuff@joulegroup.com
Mahalo for taking action to protect Waiʻaleʻale and Waikoko Streams.
Ola i ka wai!
In Solidarity,
The HAPA Team