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W. YUEN: I can’t speak to this bay or this golf course or the existing golf courses
<br />here. I can say that I have worked extensively with Dr. Steven Dollar who has studied the effects
<br />of golf course and resort development throughout the islands. And it is his general conclusion
<br />that the construction of ocean front resorts and golf courses does not have a negative effect on
<br />the near shore ocean water quality. In some cases that you don’t have here where a golf course
<br />and resort replace sugar or pineapple cultivation, the resort construction actually improves near
<br />shore ocean water quality. Obviously in this case there was no plantation agriculture in
<br />Waikoloa, but it’s his general conclusion that this kind of development does not have a negative
<br />effect on ocean water quality.
<br />GRAHAM: All right, thank you for the comments. I’m also very familiar with
<br />Mr. Dollar’s work in the past. Commissioner Iwashita?
<br />IWASHITA: I just thought, you know, when you brought up the point, that it seems to
<br />me just a general kind of thing, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the laws that you talk about as
<br />far as the Department of Health, runoff, and maintaining studies and all of that on water quality,
<br />that all of those apply to Waikiki, to Maalaea Bay, and to these areas that Commissioner Graham
<br />is indicating. I think general knowledge of these problems with the adverse changes, what we
<br />perceive as adverse changes on the reef, so and it’s not -. I think what Commissioner Graham is
<br />asking for is not just water quality but some assessment of the quality of the reef, and not just the
<br />water, and to see that we have that information in order to assess whether or not, again, you
<br />know, there has been a change or impact on the reef, and then judge evidences as to whether or
<br />not the change is tied to the development that has occurred or not, right? So he is bringing up a
<br />point that is different so -. And I’m not sure exactly how to address it, but that’s how I perceive
<br />what Commissioner Graham is bringing up and, you know, it is a concern. My son and his
<br />friends, they like to go diving and all of that, and so you know, right now the pristine places are
<br />not near these developments, where they would like to go. But historically, you know, Waikoloa
<br />these places have been or used to be the pristine places, so I think it’s a legitimate concern that
<br />we should give some consideration. But I’m not exactly sure how it can be addressed.
<br />GRAHAM: Thank you, Commissioner Iwashita. Go ahead, ma’am.
<br />BAIL: In response to the comment, the ocean water monitoring that’s done is
<br />being done to address these very concerns looking at the runoff impacts to the water. I
<br />understand your concern impacts to the reef is different from that. My concern would be if you
<br />begin looking at impacts to the reef, and we already know there are no impacts to the water from
<br />the water quality monitoring that’s being done, then what you are looking at are impacts from
<br />something other than golf course, which is not the issue that we are here for today. So I think
<br />you want to look at, you know, why were these conditions imposed back in the original permit to
<br />look at runoff from golf course, and what is the real reason you are looking at something
<br />different other than the pesticides and golf course runoff to look at the reef itself.
<br />GRAHAM: Okay, I might just add that in the last kind of a groundwater study we had,
<br />which was done for a Kona project, an SMA project, within the last year, we got all the water
<br />quality information put there and there’s also written in there the assessment that the levels prior
<br />to doing anything, meaning the current levels, were already greatly elevated over the natural
<br />levels due to land base human activities, is what we got from the assessment. So I mean it’s
<br />certainly quite likely that we are going to have a similar situation here at Anaehoomalu. And the
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