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PWIRC Rept. No. 21 May 15, 2007 <br /> Page 5 <br /> to the water. It was mentioned that Mr. Kuba had said that the County has spent lots of money to <br /> try to mitigate the problem and that was the best they can do. <br /> Mr. Higa stated that the County needs to be proactive and wondered why the County can't <br /> mitigate flood problems in Kona. Director McClure replied that the County was trying to be <br /> proactive, that the Kona side geology is younger, and with 30 inches of rain per year, the cost <br /> benefit is not there and sometimes it's cheaper to compensate for damages than to construct <br /> multi-million dollar infrastructure. Mr. Jacobson said we should be looking at slowing down the <br /> water with forests and should be looking at other solutions to prevent, engineer and mitigate. <br /> Your Committee voted unanimously to postpone Bill 51, Drafr 2, to April 3, 2007. <br /> At the meeting of April 3`d, held in the Councilroom in Hilo, there were again several members <br /> of the public who gave oral testimony. <br /> Margaret Wille stated there were several different agendas. One issue was to bring up the <br /> standards for floodplain management to qualify for insurance; another issue was stormwater <br /> management, with the focus to be onsite protection. She felt the County needed a broader <br /> watershed approach, not just looking at what the adjacent property owners were doing. She said <br /> that we all live on slopes and it doesn't just impact the lots but the water eventually ends up in <br /> the bay. She said that the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled that government's role is to protect <br /> the public trust, and that the burden is on the applicant to show that no harm is done to the <br /> watershed. This is the precautionary principal based on stewardship and "doing no harm." <br /> Every bay is affected by runoff from the mountains. She asked that the ordinance be simple to <br /> understand. She further stated that Santa Monica sells their stormwater runoff. <br /> <br /> Nancy Burns testified that there should be more education on stormwater design, and in order to <br /> use drywells you have to have permeable soils. Property owners need to provide for their own <br /> protection and can use trenches and basins. Property owners should know that they are never <br /> guaranteed to be safe from all potential flooding and they should use designs that take water <br /> away from buildings. <br /> William Cowell, President of the Hawaii Conservation Districts, said that we should focus on <br /> watersheds and how to control runoff by making use of spillways. We need good FEMA maps <br /> and need to learn to use catchment effectively. He felt that real estate people should be <br /> responsible for giving clients instructions and information about floodplains. One of the major <br /> problems is that runoff affects the oceans and coral. He has been working in conservation for 30 <br /> <br /> years. <br /> Tim Reese testified from Hilo. He said he liked what the previous testifiers said to look at the <br /> bigger picture. He mentioned that in the agenda there was a use of a double negative which was <br /> confusing. <br /> Drew Stout and Cazol Tyau-Beam were in attendance to speak about the Community Rating <br /> System. Chair Ford relinquished the chair to Vice Chair Yagong. <br /> <br />