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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0176.105 2006-2008 Page 1 of 1 Kakugawa, Pauline ~ _ _ From: Brenda lokepa-Moses [brenda@hialoha.net] ' J( (=~(j~ 31 ~ Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:54 PM To: Kakugawa, Pauline ,G ..i Subject: Written Testimony for Bill 51 Attachments: Testimony on Bill 51.pdf Aloha Pauline - I emailed testimony to Countycounciltestimony~a co hawaii.hi.us but haven't recd confrmation it went through ok. I am leaving for today so thought I would also send it to you to ensure its made part of the testimony tomorrow. mahalo, brenda comm. No. I'7~. ~ O t Ref. Tah~~ Ref. Date J-~lN 1 "LUUt 1 5/31 /2007 May 31, 2007 Il,.; 3~ 4 Honorable Pete Hoffman, Chairman Members of Hawaii County Council 333 Kilauea Ave. Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Honorable Members, A testimony, opposing the proposed changes to amend Bill No. 51 Chapter 27 Flood Control, Hawaii County Code. Although flood management considerations should be addressed in certain azeas of the island, the proposed changes tazget the entire island and also exceeds the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEM,A). The proposed changes are unreasonable and biased. It forces the agricultural connznunity to comply to zules and regulations that are impossible to achieve and will not allow them to survive the world- wide agricultural competition fiom an economic standpoint. The proposed statement to be included in article 4, section 27-18 (c) (6) which basically states that lands with slopes exceeding 10% will limit the land owner to developing only 20% of the total land area. This statement as printed in the draft is too vague because it does not address farmers and ranchers who obtain grading and grubbing exemptions from their local Soil & Water Conservation District Board. Will these individuals be exempt from the changes? Also, the geology of the Big Island will put most of the Ka'u and Hamakua lands into this category. A portion of the Puna and Waiakea districts will also be affected. In relation to the State of Hawaii, these four districts account for a large portion of agricultural commodities produced statewide. This proposed 20% developznent limit will bring upon a severe econozttic constraint to our island's fanners and ranchezs. They will not be able to expand, or to a certain extent maintain older farm/ranch land and still remain competitive. Many may go out of business which will cause higher demazzd for agricultural products from the U.S znainland. The proposed statement io be included in article 4, section 27-20 (g) essentially states that all flood control structures iu new agricultural subdivisions be designed to retain all rainfall up to a 100-year storm event on the agricultural land on which the rainfall fell. This statement should also be revisited with a more feasible approach. It's fairly impossible to retain-all water during a 100-year storm event due to the reason that a 100-year storm event has the ability to cause major damage that human beings can do notlzizzg to control. A 100-year storm event may be considered a disaster in certain areas. In addition, natural existing outlets, such as gulches or streams, are not large enough to contain or channel water from a 100-year storm event. During a 100- year storm event water in these gulches or streams are also uucomrollable_ It's also not feasible for, especially these full time farmers and ranchers, to install flood control structures designed to handle water from a 100-year storm. Many of these structures will consume valuable land to grow their commodities and/or be too expensive to install. A case study is attached. This issue may lead to who will pay to re-design and re-build existing structures that do not meet the 100-year event criteria? Currently we follow MRCS guidelines for planning. We design practices such as diversions, ten•aces, and grassed waterways for farms to protect ~7opland to handle water from a 10-year storm event. Any request for a pzactice to be planned fora 100 year storm event is forwazded to the U. S. Army Coxps of Engineers. This type of planning is related to large sized flood control projects protecting neighborhoods or towns. In conclusion, it appears the motive of the proposal is driven by problems occurring in a specific region of the island There needs to be additional professional engineering studies and flood mapping to target flood prone areas around the entire Big Island. The council should reconsider the proposed changes and after detailed flood studies had been done, `Yed flag" certain areas around the island to follow more reasonable rules and regulations. Respeetfullly Submitted, nda Iokepa Mose Chairperson, Ka'u Soil & Water Conservation District Jus ' ]?en• , S 1 onservationist, East Hawaii Soil and Water Conservation Districts Bill 51 Case Study Hydrology Documentation WinTR-55 Current Data Description Identification Data User: D. Kubo Date: 5/29!2007 Project: Bill 51 Units: English SubTitle: 100-year runoff volume in Ka'u Areal Units: Acres State: Hawaii County: Hawaii Filename: H:\Engineering\TR55Kau Sub-Area Data Name Description Reach Area(ac) RCN Tc Ka'u Farm 20-acre drainage area Outlet 20 70 0.100 Total area: 20 (ac) Storm Data - Rainfall Depth by Rainfall Return Period 2-Yr 5-Yr 10-Yr 25-Yr 50-Yr 100-Yr -Yr (in) (in) (in) (in) (in) (in) (in) 8.7 11.5 14.0 16.5 18.5 21.0 .0 Storm Data Source: User-provided custom storm data Rainfall Distribution Type: Type I Dimensionless Unit Hydrograph: <standard> D. Kubo Bill 51 100-year runoff volume in Ka'u Hawaii County, Hawaii Storm Data i Rainfall Depth by Rainfall Return Period 2-Yr 5-Yr 10-Yr 25-Yr 50-Yr 100-Yr -Yr (in) (in) (in) (in) (in) (in) (in) 8.7 11.5 14.0 16.5 18.5 21.0 .0 Storm Data Source: User-provided custom storm data Rainfall Distribution Type: Type I Dimensionless Unit Hydrograph: <standard> D. Kubo Bill 51 100-year runoff volume in Ka'u Hawaii County, Hawaii Watershed Peak Table Sub-Area Peak Flow by Rainfall Retum Period or Reach 10-Yr 100-Yr Identifier (cfs) (cfs) SUBAREAS Ka'u Farm 156.58 261.01 REACHES OUTLET 156.58 261.01 D. Kubo Bill 51 100-year runoff volume in Ka'u Hawaii County, Hawaii Hydrograph Peak/Peak Time Table Sub-Area Peak Flow and Peak Time (hr) by Rainfall Return Period or Reach 10-Yr 100-Yr Identifier (cfs) (cfs) (hr) (hr) i SUBAREAS Ka'u Farm 156.58 261.01 9.93 9.93 REACHES OUTLET 156.58 261.01 (added from TR-20 Report) TR-20 RUNOFF 10-Yr 100-Yr (Inches) 9.90 16.60 D. Kubo Bill 51 100-year runoff voiume in Ka'u Hawaii County, Hawaii Sub-Area Summary Table Sub-Area Drainage Time of Curve Receiving Sub-Area Identifier Area Concentration Number Reach Description (ac) (hr) i Ka'u Farm 20.00 0.100 70 Outlet 20-acre drainage area Total Area: 20 (ac) D. Kubo Bill 51 100-year runoff volume in Ka'u Hawaii County, Hawaii Sub-Area Time of Concentration Details Sub-Area Flow Mannings's End Wetted Travel Identifier/ Length Slope n Area Perimeter Velocity Time (ft) (ft/ft) (sq ft) ~ (ft) (ft/sec) (hr) Ka'u Farm SHEET 100 0.1500 0.240 0.064 SHALLOW 600 0.1500 0.050 0.027 CHANNEL 300 0.1500 0.030 5.00 15.00 9.259 0.009 Time of Concentration 0.100 D. Kubo Bill 51 100-year runoff volume in Ka'u Hawaii County, Hawaii Sub-Area Land Use and Curve Number Details Sub-Area Hydrologic Sub-Area Curve Identifier Land Use Soil Area Number Group (ac) Ka'u Farm Fallow Crop residue [CR] (good) A 10 74 Row Crop Contoured [C] (good) A 10 65 Total Area /Weighted Curve Number 20 70 ~,//vim/ ~'s~ ..S'-~a~r~, ,~/¢~z~ZU~7 _ _ _ ~ j ~4 / ' ~ I i~ tip 111°, 7 S ~L____ , - - - . -I / ~ r ~ / 2j~CD~ t>GtT/G6~ x ~19~/~~ ~GZ1ecf f . - v / H 00 / " i _ /36 ~ , -~I