HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-2014 Water Parks Roads Subcommittee Meeting NotesNOTES FROM THE JANUARY 28,2014 WATER,ROADS & PARKS SUBCOMMITTEE
ATTENDANCE: Toni Withington, John Winter, Andi Longpre and Faye Yates. Guests:
Shiro Takata, Chris Brown, and Ted Matsuda.
AGRICULTURAL WATER:
In 2006 the earthquake closed down the Kohala Ditch and effectively cut off the
sustainable ag. water that was being used by such entities as local nurseries. As of
this date, there is still no sustainable agricultural water supply for our community.
RESIDENTIAL WATER
Halaula well: negotiations between the current landowners and the DWS over are
presently holding up the process of well implementation. Once these negotiations
are completed there will be about one more year before the well is operational.
WATER COMMITMENTS & METERS:
Whenever property owners want to subdivide their acreage the Planning Dept. says
that they can only do so if they have additional meters. However, the DWS says
there are no more water commitments (meters) available in North Kohala. This has
been the case for the past ten years or so. DWS claims that the sustainable yield
from the aquifer cannot support additional withdrawal.
WATER BOARD:
Mr. Takata brought to our attention that the DWS is autonomous from the County. It
is also governed, in large part, by the Water Board. He informed us that the Board
operates in a similar fashion to the County Council and has 9 commissioners. David
Greenwell, resides in Waimea and is
ACTION PLAN:
The group agreed to ask for a meeting with the Chair of the Water Board (Art
Taniguchi) and David Greenwell (the representative for Kohala) to address the
following concerns: sustainable yield, the moratorium on meters and how to
develop the following a diversified and redundant water system so that we can
have sufficient potable and agricultural water in North Kohala.
GREEN WASTE:
There is a group of Kohala residents who had worked on establishing a green waste
facility. Our subcommittee agreed to invite them to a meeting to share their findings
and set up a revitalized group to investigate and accomplish this task. One member
of the Action Committee would also be part of the group.
NEXT MEETING February 25,2014, 5p.m. at the Senior Ctr.