Even with funding up in the air, a project to reopen the Pohoiki Boat Ramp has taken another step forward.
A final environmental assessment for a plan to dredge the sandbar which formed in front of the boat ramp during the 2018 Kilauea eruption was released Sunday.
The final EA is not substantially different from a draft assessment published in April, although the circumstances surrounding the project have drastically changed since then.
Both the draft and final EAs state that the preferred form of the dredging project would remove as much of the sandbar as possible, restoring the area to something close to its preeruption state.
But even though the final EA has determined that such a course of action would not cause substantial environmental impacts, there currently is not enough funding available to proceed with full removal of the sandbar.
A full dredge of the beach would remove about 175,000 cubic yards of material and is estimated to cost more than $40 million, which would have been paid for using state funds, some of which would have been reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
However, the final EA notes that FEMA has still not confirmed how much, if any, money will be allocated.
With no confirmation FEMA will reimburse the state for the full dredging project, state lawmakers only included in this year’s budget bill $5.4 million — enough funding for a greatly scaled-back version that would only dredge a channel through the sandbar.
Lawmakers have said that they will try again to secure the $40 million during the next legislative session, but that a cheap, short-term fix such as a channel should be pursued anyway in order to support Puna fishermen, who are currently forced to launch from Hilo.
The final EA notes that dredging could begin in 2024, should the permits and approvals process be completed by the end of this year.
