BREAKING NEWS!

Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:51:09 -1000
Subject: First Kimpton Resort Property in Hawaii
From: Bridget Hammerquist <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]

Aloha Friends,

Our objection to the annual renewal without requiring KIUC to maintain the 5 mile water transmission ditch system fell on deaf ears. We also strongly objected to the fact that their permit allowed KIUC to divert the entire base flow from the streams. When it wasn’t raining, each stream would suffer long stretches of dry stream beds.

KIUC’s revocable permit was renewed in 2016 and 2017 despite our objections and testimony from more than a dozen people who presented oral testimony and photographs showing the disrepair and deterioration in the system following the state grant of the permit to KIUC in 2003.

Finally, in 2018 the trees that had been allowed to grow in and near the ditch fell and caused significant damage to several parts of the 5 mile transmission ditch system, limiting the amount of water from Waiʻaleʻale and Waikoko that reached the hydro-power plants. We asked KIUC to close the diversions and restore stream flow to protect several invasive species that relied on these state waters for their survival. FOM also raised the fact that traditional and cultural practitioners gathered indigenous hawaiian plants and water from the streams for medicinal purposes.

In December 2018, we appeared before the board again and finally obtained an Order from the BLNR that required KIUC to not divert all the water from the streams which had been creating dry stream beds. There had been at least 1 mile of dry stream bed in the Waiʻaleʻale streams, adversely impacting the flora and fauna (migrating

Oʻopu and Opae – both indigenous, only found Hawaii) as well as other species of fish. 

KIUC did re-establish flow for Waiʻaleʻale but they have never properly closed the diversion at Waikoko to assure restoration of at least some uninterrupted stream flow mauka to makai as required by Hawaii law. 

Thereafter, we appeared annually in December requesting KIUC compliance with their state contract and its conditions that they maintain the 5 mile water transmission system to its condition when they took over the diversion operation in 2003. In 2021 and 2022, we ultimately requested that the land board assign the case to a hearing officer, as we requested a contested case because we could not see any evidence that KIUC was even trying to maintain the conditions required by their permit. KIUC took the position that because they were only receiving an annual permit they didn’t want to invest the money needed to properly care for the 5 mile water transmission system because they had no assurance that their RP would be renewed the following year. FOM argued that this position lacked merit because their permit had been renewed every year since 2003. They did not have any good cause for not taking care of the water transmission system other than they didn’t want to spend the money. They were using the water to make power and charging customers one of the highest rates per kilowatt hour in the United States. KIUC was making money but did not want to spend money on maintaining the system that they had contractually agreed to maintain.

In December 2023, KIUC came before the Board and announced that they would not be asking for a renewal of the RP. They indicated that they would close off the two diversions at the two streams. Waiʻaleʻale stream is once again flowing full but the Waikoko stream diversion has not been properly closed and there remains 300′ of dry stream bed below the diversion site.

We appealed the Board’s denial of our requests for a Contested Case (12/21 and 12/22). The Circuit Court Judge on Oahu found in our favor and ruled that the Board (BLNR) should have granted our requests for a Contested Case so that these issues could have been properly resolved by a hearing officer.


Aloha!

Humpback whales are often seen breaching off the shores of Maha’ulepu during the winter months.

Friends of Maha’ulepu is comprised of a group of concerned citizens (local and beyond) who are contributing their time and talents to protect the natural beauty of this pristine coastal valley.

Maha’ulepu Beach is located on the South Shore of the Island of Kaua’i in the Hawaiian Islands, approximately 3 1/2 miles northeast of the town of Poi’pu.  Poi’pu is one of the major visitor destinations on the island due to it’s beautiful beaches, swimming, snorkeling and surfing, sea turtles, whales, monk seals, trade winds, palm trees, and spectacular sunsets. Learn more about Friends of Maha’ulepu and the work we are doing!


Maui wildfires timeline of failed communications