HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0721.016 2012-2014 P/Aw
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From: Cory Harden [333cory@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2014 6:14 PM �1 ,S R 17 01 g: 133
To: GVT CTY HI CNCL testimony ZQ
Subject: support Keauhou water designation/Comm. 721.1 AWESC Tue Mar 18 9:45 AM
PLEASE ACKNOWLEGE RECEIPT
comments on. Communication 721.1--Peter Young's presentation re. water issues at Honokohau
for Hawaii County Council Committee on Agriculture, water and Energy Sustainabilty
9:45 AM Tuesday, March 18, 2014, West Hawaii Civic Center
by Cory Harden, Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawaii 96721
Please support a State Water Management Area designation for the Keauhou Aquifer System.
We don't want to deplete the water, or turn it into salt water.
Mr. Young says home rule must be protected. But the County does not have the resources to
evaluate the complex water situation and determine how much, and where, water can safely
be pumped out..
Mr. Young presents some numbers to support his position. But you can't just grab a few
numbers--you need knowledgeable people working together to evaluate the whole picture.
Mr. Young says there is no scientific data to support Water Management Area designation.
But most of Mr. Young 's background is in real estate--30 years. And he is representing
Sanford Carr, which is proposing a major development in the area.
By contrast, the National Park Service, with a mission, expertise, and experience in
protecting the environment, has spent six years working for more careful management of
Kona's water resources, and supports the water area designation.
Mr. Young's background includes being head of the State Department of Land and Natural
Resources and chair of the Commission on Water Resource Management from 2003 to 2007, but
his tenure was controversial.
In 2003 questions were raised about Sunshine Law violations at DLNR.
In 2005 it became difficult for the public to track where money went in DLNR, after Mr.
Young, along with Governor Lingle and the State budget director, consolidated some DLNR
accounts.
.In 2006 the State auditor reported a long-standing problem had not been resolved: DLNR
was not reimbursing the State for money DLNR used on projects while awaiting Federal grant
money.. Comm. •t.l. l(O
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Ref. Tb: AU)15 5E.,
Ref. gate MAK 18 2014
The auditor also identified inadequacies in DLNR accounting and financial reporting
processes, which caused errors and omissions of some 'required disclosures.
And the auditor reported that many long-standing problems at Division of Boating and Ocean
Recreation remained: safety concerns, outdated fee structures, problems with management
and financial control, and lack of compliance with ,permit requirements.
In 2006 the State Supreme Court ruled against DLNR after Mr. Young denied an
administrative appeal for two citizens arguing that the upper limit of beaches should be
the high reach of the wash of the waves, not vegetation lines (which were sometimes
planted and watered by landowners trying to increase the size of their property) .
In 2007, several subpoenaed witnesses at a' State legislative hearing on reappointment of
Mr. Young to head DLNR cited longstanding management and financial problems that remained
unresolved in DLNR's historic preservation, boating, and enforcement divisions, plus
possible unethical actions in the Bureau of Conveyances, which falls under DLNR.
Please support the State Water Management Area designation.
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