HAWI — North Kohala has no shortage of rainfall, but as modes and methods of agricultural production have shifted since the end of the plantation era, many producers have found trouble directing that water toward irrigation purposes. ADVERTISING HAWI —
HAWI — North Kohala has no shortage of rainfall, but as modes and methods of agricultural production have shifted since the end of the plantation era, many producers have found trouble directing that water toward irrigation purposes.
Old infrastructure is breaking down. Several lateral transmission lines from the Kohala Ditch, through which some 40 million gallons of water may pass daily, were never revitalized after damage sustained from an earthquake that struck the island in 2006.
Agricultural production has shifted from centralized, large-scale operations to smaller operations that can’t sufficiently utilize infrastructure already in place.
In response to these concerns, the state has commissioned a study to catalogue current and future demand for agricultural water in the region, as well as consider current and potentially new sources and transmission methods to more effectively manage and supply agricultural water to those who require it.
Sen. Lorraine Inouye, who represents the area, and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources convened a meeting at the Kohala Village Hub – Barn Wednesday night to begin discussion and gather public input to inform that study.
“We’ve reached a point where you have some businesses going that the equipment is either breaking down or becoming completely un-serviceable,” said John Richards of Waimea Water Services LLC, which has been contracted to conduct the study. “And then you have new, smaller business that are trying to fire up that just don’t have access to ag water.”
The meeting Wednesday signaled the beginning of a process Inouye said will span roughly one year, although some reports will be filed before the 2018 legislative session begins in January. Nothing is off the table, save for one option.
“It’s beyond reality that the state would take over management of the Kohala Ditch,” Inouye said.
The $1.5 million appropriated by the Legislature for the study was initially intended to explore the possibility of the state doing just that. But upon closer examination, Inouye said she, and others, realized the ditch was an asset that could put the state in a precarious financial position as some parts of its infrastructure are several decades old.
While the study will include several options involving the ditch, Richards said it would still function as only part of the solution because it’s purely transmission. Also, because the state won’t pay to assume management, the ditch will remain privately owned and will not become a public utility.
Thus, any plan developed involving the ditch would be reliant on voluntary cooperation from the Surety Kohala Corporation, which isn’t guaranteed. So, the study must develop alternative options.
Inouye said the state won’t manage whatever water system is eventually developed, but can likely get involved with providing infrastructure through state and federal funding. A private entity, perhaps a farmers co-op, would need to be developed or identified to assume management once a system is chosen and brought online.
Public suggestions early in the process have included groups putting together funding for new pipelines. Richards also said even catchment is promising in several areas. One inch of water on one acre of land is the equivalent of 27,154 gallons, he explained.
“If you put down an acre of plastic, that’s a million gallons of water per year,” Richards said.
North Kohala supports a host of agricultural concerns, including farming, orchards, cattle ranches, nurseries and burgeoning industrial agriculture.
John Winter, chairman of the North Kohala Community Development Action Plan, said upward of 90 percent of land in the region is zoned agricultural, adding it’s been “…zoned and waiting for an eruption of agricultural productivity.”
If this study can help find a way to harness the natural sources of water plentiful in the area, Winter believes that’s exactly what will happen.
“You have a bit of a cart and a horse thing. Not only is land property fairly expensive, but water is expensive,” Winter said. “Projected agricultural need does kind of an interesting dance, I guess you’d say, with the availability of cheap agricultural water, because if that ag water was available then people would come to take advantage of it.”
As it stands now, many producers in North Kohala are forced to use potable water from the Hawaii County of Department of Water Supply, which takes a big bite not only out of their profit margins, but also out of county resources.
“Most farmers are forced to use potable water for irrigation purposes and, of course, that’s expensive and wasteful,” Winter said. “It requires power for pumping and all kinds of stuff. So we’re looking into how to make a robust water system in Kohala.”
Richards said public meetings will continue, adding his company will also reach out on an individual basis to agricultural concerns in the region.
