HomeMy WebLinkAboutNaughton, Momi
TO: Members of the Hawaiʻi County Council
FROM: Momi Naughton, Ph.D.
DATEL October 20, 2026
RE: In Opposition to Bills 186 and 187
What a Pandora’s Box has been opened on the South Kohala Coast with regard to allowing
unchecked development with little regard to water and infrastructure concerns! Quite suddenly
large developments have been proposed and perhaps, taken one development at a time, it appears
that their impacts won’t be serious, but altogether the cumulative effect is very concerning.
How is this helping the housing market? There are those of us who remember the beginning
of Waikoloa Village built by Bosie Cascade in the 1970s in anticipation of the need for employee
housing as resorts were being built along the coast of South Kohala. It was the start in our area
of what would become known as “workforce housing.” Now, the average condo in Waikoloa
Village is about $600,000 and house can run into the millions. Let’s stop pretending that
developments like Waikoloa Green will help local people with the housing crisis they are for
developers looking to profit from new wealthier residents.
Developers have discovered how to work the system and get or retain agriculture zoning for their
housing projects to reduce taxes. ‘Ōuli “Farms” is an example of such a ruise. Shockingly, the
former head of the County Planning Department owned a business to help developers maneuver
through the permitting process prior to serving in his role with the County. Now that he has left
that position, the former Planning Director has gone back to his prior business equipped with
more knowledge on how to circumvent regulations. It was during his tenure that many of these
questionable development permits were approved by the Planning Department in South Kohala.
Fire and Water: After the Lahaina and the Mānā Road fires, people are naturally concerned
about brush fires in Waikoloa. Since most of the testimony against this development has focused
justifiably on the fear of losing homes and lives if a fire were to occur, I will not be addressing
that concern here in detail except to say that the moʻolelo (oral traditions) of the area give us a
warning. Some sources say that “Waikoloa” does not mean “duck water,” but rather speaks of
the wind that drags (kō) through that area with intensity. That wind makes the area prone to fire.
As for water: “Of the 14 million gallons that are taken each day from the Waimea aquifer,
about 3 million gallons are used to water golf courses and the landscaped grounds of the
Waikoloa resort, fronting the Waikoloa resort (Environment Hawaiʻi September 2026).”
Therefore, adding to the water usage in Waikoloa “which would allow the applicant to develop a
400-unit multiple-family housing complex with a clubhouse and related improvement \[golf
course?\]” (wording of Bill 187) would stress the Waimea aquifer which has “the smallest
yield of all aquifer sectors of the Big Island (Environment Hawaiʻi Sept, 2026).”
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While the residents of Waimea are asked to conserve water because we are often under the
“extreme drought” designation, and our actual farmers also have to decrease water for their
agricultural needs, the County allows for more golf courses, infinity pools and houses to be built.
According to the 2025 Hawaiʻi Annual Climate Report: “2025 was the second driest year in
Hawaiʻi’s 106-year record, with statewide rainfall averaging just 42 inches – about 20
inches below the 30-year average (Sea Grant report).” And yet we continue to allow
development in places most prone to drought.
Have we not learned from Mainland examples? The seven states in the Southwest who rely
on the Colorado River have had to have mandatory water usage cutbacks and landscaping
regulations and California’s Central Valley that produces about a quarter of the nation’s food and
finding several underground basins are in major overdraft. States like Arizona require
developers in certain areas to demonstrate a 100-year assured water supply before building
new subdivisions (Science Insight March 15, 2026).
We need a moratorium against the approval of any new housing developments in South
Kohala until we can assess our water resources and the needs of the local population,
including the actual farmers of Waimea, already residing here.
I appreciate the opportunity to register my concerns and that you have taken the time to read my
testimony.
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