Act now to protect water supply
The Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce and the National Park Service seem to agree on one thing: Disaster has not struck our water supply yet. The difference is that the Chamber and other opponents of designation have argued since there is no harm now, there will be no harm from the thousands of housing units and hundreds of acres of new commercial developments our land use plans call for.
I would not wait until my son’s tooth rots before requiring him to brush his teeth. Should people quit smoking cigarettes only after lung cancer shows up? Should the county wait to install a traffic signal at a busy intersection until after someone is killed there?
Acting now is needed to protect the park. If the state Water Commission decides to designate the Keauhou aquifer in response to the NPS petition, it will protect lots more than the park’s unique natural and cultural resources. Designation can help prevent disaster beyond park boundaries — the kind of disaster that nearly occurred on Maui. In the Iao aquifer, the state allowed Maui County and development interests to delay regulation of water withdrawal for more than 20 years — and only stepped in when saltwater was rising dangerously in the county’s wells. Though no two aquifers are exactly the same, it’s clear that the lessons of the use and over-use of Hawaii’s natural and cultural resources spans decades, generations and centuries, and can be seen across the archipelago’s regions and islands. Will we learn from those lessons or ignore them and hope for the best? Water is like a human heart: Without either, human life cannot exist.
The Chamber has implied that every user of water needs to get a permit if the aquifer is designated. However, only the well owners and operators would need to do that.
Designation also increases the opportunity for public participation in land and water use planning. This is a huge bonus that enhances the democratic process by bringing the public’s voice into decisions that affect its communities. It’s hard to imagine how that could be considered a bad thing. And we all want to see water available for important public projects such as the courthouse and Hawaii Community College — Palamanui. But absent designation, water developed by private developers always means their needs are served before those of the public. That is backwards.
The Chamber and others work tirelessly to promote growth by drawing more and more visitors, businesses and residents to the island. While their goals continue to increase the population, use of the islands’ natural resources increases markedly. Even thirty-somethings can remember one traffic light Kona and know how quickly things have changed. Undeveloped lands have become vast subdivisions and major shopping malls have been built in “Keep Kona Country” spaces. Roads, including Queen Kaahumanu Highway, have gone from nonexistent to four lanes in far less than half my lifetime.
All the while, water use increases and polluting runoff flows into our ocean and onto fragile reefs — challenging facts of Kona’s changing life and environmental health. Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park is a critical refuge for the survival of Hawaii’s flora and fauna and, more important, is a community- and even statewide hub where Hawaiian culture can still thrive outside a resort or museum. Our other undeveloped coastlines also depend on fresh water, and are precious as well. Without the vision and wisdom of kanaka maoli and the support of national leaders, the park would’ve been lost along with the cultural activities and treasures it realized were in danger of extinction.
Those grassroots community leaders 40 years ago looked ahead and took the steps needed to protect a place. We all benefit from their vision today. We need to carry on that tradition and not look just at next year, but take actions now to make sure Kona has a healthy coastline and a good economy 40 years from now, for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Duane Erway
Kailua-Kona
Importation of Philippine bananas disappointing
It was extremely disappointing news Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service will allow the importation of Philippine bananas into Hawaii and Guam even with 45 of 46 comments in strong opposition. See: regulations.gov/index.jsp#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0045-0051.
This shows the failure of government and the greed of those who control the flow of produce in and out of Hawaii. The dangers of pests and damage to the sustainability of small banana growers and farmers around the state was never even considered and simply brushed aside as inconsequential.
This USDA decision made in Washington shows total disregard for our Hawaiian agriculture sustainability and this potential threat to our banana industry.
It sadly typifies modern government’s lack of concern for the population it keeps milking.
Ken Love
Executive Director
Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers
Too little considered in proposed cesspool changes
I want to thank the Department of Health for bringing forward the proposed wastewater changes. I do not agree with all of them, but they certainly have provoked discussion of the situation.
We are all concerned with keeping our environment as clean as possible, whether it be our air, or our water. However, I believe we have to also work within the bounds of what already exists, keeping in mind the unique geography and land development here in Hawaii. The Department of Health’s proposed solution to the cesspool situation is like the state Department of Transportation decreeing that the need for clean air demands we all get rid of our cars and use electric cars or bicycles starting Jan. 1, 2015.
I do believe that their proposal that any new homes built cannot have cesspools is accepted by most. It is sensible in that it starts from what now exists and moves foward from there.
What is not acceptable in these proposed new requirements is forcing existing cesspool systems to convert when a home with an existing cesspool is sold. The buyer will simply discount the price of the septic design and installation from the sale price. Moreover, this assumes that there is a solution in every case. Prospective buyers will be scared off by the unknown — what will the new system cost? How long will approval take? What if a system cannot be designed to make the state happy?
What of the group homes, including condos and townhouses existing on very little land? When one sells, will all need to convert? If the lot is too small, will there be power in the state or county to expropriate the land needed?
I am a firm believer that honey works better than a big stick. In this case, why not encourage conversion of cesspools to septic systems by grants or tax incentives? It may be that enough will convert to alleviate the problem.
Get involved now. Ask your state representatives and the candidates for governor where they stand on this issue.
Don Taylor
Captain Cook