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COUNTY OF HAWAII <br />STATE OF HAWAII <br />RESOLUTION NO. 479 14 <br />A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE STATE OF HAWAII TO RESTORE AND <br />PRESERVE THE LOWER HAMAKUA DITCH (OPEN -VESSEL WATERWAY) AND <br />TO ALLOW MORE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN THE DECISION-MAKING <br />PROCESS. <br />WHEREAS, the Lower Hamakua Ditch (LHD) is a primarily open, 26 -mile water <br />channel that extends from intakes at the back of Waipi`o Valley along the Hamakua coast to the <br />Pa`auilo Reservoir; and <br />WHEREAS, the construction of the LHD was completed in 1910 and is a significant <br />historic site having been built by the hands of plantation workers who labored under adverse <br />conditions through lengthy tunnels and other difficult terrain to provide a waterway for the <br />expansive sugarcane plantations along the Hamakua coast; and <br />WHEREAS, the State's "pipe and bury" plan would destroy the unique ecosystem created <br />by this waterway and, therefore, may be in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act <br />(42 U.S.C. 4321) and regulations established by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR <br />Part 1500) regarding the requirements for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); and <br />WHEREAS, consistent with the 2010 Hawaii Supreme Court decision in Unite Here! <br />Local 5 v. City and County of Honolulu, a supplemental EIS is necessary to modify the 2001 <br />Memorandum of Agreement that was based on the 1999 EIS (15 years ago), which did not <br />support burying the ditch; and <br />WHEREAS, the LHD is in need of repair and restoration, however, to change this <br />waterway from an open vessel to one that is buried in a polyethylene pipe would make this a <br />capital improvement project, which does not fit within the EIS exemption for a "repair"; and <br />WHEREAS, residents learned that the Director of the Department of Agriculture and <br />other State representatives are in the process of negotiating contracts with local contractors to <br />