HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0414.010 2016-2018 Cu N T Y CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
RECEIVED iort)
7:457m4
From: Shannon Rudolph Time By
Subject: Please Postpone Bill 65 Date 1/1417
Date: Monday,September 18,2017 12:19:20 PM
Aloha Council!
Please postpone your vote on Bill 65.
I would like to see a professional, independent audit of our Kona water
resources. I'd even go so far as to say - hiring an expert from the
Continent for a completely unbiased report.
I'm just a concerned citizen and have no hard facts about difficult
water issues and can only rely on my common sense.
I put my trust in the rangers & experts from the Koloko-Honokohau
National Park who requested a Water Management Area Permit for the
Keauhou Aquafir - but were denied. They had the huge financial
resources, unbiased monitoring data, and no profit motive to make truly
sound decisions.
Back in July 2014 a meeting was held between the Kona development &
Realtor community to whip up a frenzy of local sentiment of a Federal
'take-over' of our water resources - falsely telling people that no more
water permits would be issued if the park's petition was approved.
Around the same time, I attended a State Water Commission meeting
where one of the state commissioners forced our local water board
official to embarrassingly admit that their data included a million
gallons of 'phantom water' that should not have been counted.
This made me very nervous. Who's data are we going to trust?
While I'm glad the Dept. of Water Supply has agreed that no more
wells would be approved at the lower elevations, I'm concerned about
the DWS now relying on `mauka' wells said to have falling water levels
and whether this includes 'stealing' critical water resources from
mauka South Kona to feed North Kona development.
I know that trying to look into the future on the quantity & quality of
m. No. 141(41D
Ref. To: V "Irc
Ref. Date EP 1
our water resources is complicated, even for so called experts, let alone
the general public - especially with the unknowns of climate change that
are already affecting us.
Management of our crucial water resources is our most critical issue
that we just-can-not-get-wrong for present & future residents.
Please postpone your vote on Bill 65 & commission a real audit of our
water, organize a task force of input from knowledgeable kupuna, along
with educating the public on taking water conservation seriously - into
the future. And don't allow our residents to be locked out of the
decision making process.
Mahalo!
Shannon Rudolph
P.O. 243 Holualoa, 96725