Laserfiche WebLink
Chapter 179, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as amended, designates the <br /> Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) as the state agency <br /> responsible for coordinating the flood control and related activities <br /> of the various government agencies in Hawaii. DLNR, through its <br /> Division of Water and Land Development, is the agency responsible for <br /> implementing the statewide flood control program and for providing <br /> technical and financial assistance to the political subdivisions of <br /> the state (counties and Soil and Water Conservation Districts). <br /> Limitations of the Study <br /> The entire South Kona area is characterized by many under- <br /> developed and poorly defined watercourses, all subject to potential <br /> flooding. Special efforts were made to locate probable problem areas <br /> by interviewing local residents and studying storm damage reports <br /> made by the personnel of Bishop Estate and the SCS. These efforts <br /> resulted in the identification of 25 watercourses most likely to <br /> carry excessive storm runoff. It must be emphasized that this does <br /> not preclude the possibility of other unidentified watercourses also <br /> carrying damaging runoff. This is caused by several unpredictable <br /> circumstances: (1) development and clearing in both agricultural and <br /> urban areas will alter existing topography, (2) accumulation of <br /> sediment and debris in any of the 25 identified watercourses can <br /> divert flow to form new watercourses not identified in this study, <br /> and (3) a storm may center over areas of undefined and unidentified <br /> watercourses. <br /> There also exists in the South Kona area the possibility of <br /> shallow, alluvial-type flooding resulting from overbank flows that <br /> remain unconfined. Such shallow flooding, with average depths lass <br /> than one foot, are not usually associated with channel flooding and <br /> flood profiles. Reliable determination of depths, extent of <br /> flooding, and direction of flow by normal open-channel hydraulic <br /> methods would be extremely difficult if not impossible. Because of <br /> the steep slopes of the existing terrain, any attempt to confine such <br /> flows would result in extremely hazardous velocities. Any one storm <br /> mhy not cover the entire South Kona area with alluvial flooding but, <br /> <br /> • because .of the possibility of sediment and debris altering tfie <br /> direction of flow, all areas may experience this type of flooding. <br /> -2- <br /> <br />