Report Title:

Ahupua`a O Kahana, Master Plan

Description:

Appropriates l2% of all funds deposited into the Waiahole water system revolving fund to fund a master plan for the Ahupua`a o Kahana.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

511

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO AHUPUA`A O KAHANA.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. In 1965, the State condemned the ahupua`a o Kahana for use as a state park, making it the only landowner in the State, outside of the Robinson family and Ni`ihau, to own an intact ahupua`a. An ahupua`a, a triangular slice of land running from the mountains to the ocean, was the major land division used by pre-contact Hawaiians, as it included all of the elements necessary for their existence: the uplands, the lowlands, the shore, and the ocean.

While the families living in Kahana at the time of the condemnation were of varied ethnic backgrounds, many of them were Hawaiian and the people of Kahana in general lived a simple, subsistence lifestyle in harmony with Hawaiian values and traditions. The people of Kahana lobbied the legislature after the condemnation to allow them to stay in Kahana and preserve this rural Hawaiian-influenced lifestyle. In 1970, a governor's task force proposed the concept of a living park that would allow the families to stay and in some way participate in the park. The governor accepted this idea and recommended it to the department of land and natural resources. The residents were allowed to stay on the land on revocable leases.

The State then paid for a number of extremely ambitious master plans for Kahana that would have destroyed its rural Hawaiian character. The entities that prepared these master plans did not consult with or solicit input from the Kahana residents. These plans included damming part of the land and constructing artificial islands for "nationality gardens," water pageants, and camping sites for a thousand people. The residents and others criticized these plans as inappropriate and culturally insensitive. The residents proposed modest plans focused on sharing the rural culture of the valley with residents and visitors, but the State ignored these proposals.

The State then devised a scheme in which each Kahana family would contribute twenty-five hours of interpretive services to the park, to preserve, restore, and share the history and rural lifestyle of the ahupua`a with the public.

There has been continued frustration between the lessees and the State on the implementation of the interpretive services program, and the lack of a cohesive management plan. In 2001, the legislature asked the legislative reference bureau to study the issue of an appropriate management plan and to explore which entity would be most appropriate to manage Kahana. In its study, Kahana: What Was, What Is, What Can Be, the bureau examined the issue and found that these questions were premature without a master plan in place. Until the direction of Kahana is settled, it is impossible to determine what the best management is and who would be the best manager.

The resources that exist in the families of Kahana are considerable. With very little help from the State, some of the Kahana families have taken responsibility for large projects, such as restoration of the taro lo`i, the `auwai, and the Huilua fishpond. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, many of the elders of Kahana have passed on and their resources as cultural teachers have been lost. The State has lost enough time - thirty-seven years - in squandering the human resources of Kahana. No more time must be lost in devising a master plan for this unique resource.

A significant portion of the water in the Waiahole Ditch comes from Kahana. The long term average from the tunnel and the surface waters comprise 3.2 million gallons per day, or approximately twelve per cent of the total available water in the ditch. While some water has been returned to some Windward streams, none of the Waiahole water has been returned to Kahana.

A source of funds is needed to perform a complete master plan for Kahana, one on which, for once, the people of Kahana are consulted with and viewed as the resource that they are instead of obstacles in the path toward a Hawaiian Disneyland. It would be apt to appropriate twelve per cent of the annual revenues from the Waiahole Ditch to fund a master plan, including an environmental impact statement, for the ahupua`a o Kahana state park. At present all the funds from the Waiahole Ditch water are channeled into the Waiahole water system revolving fund, where they are to be used to improve, operate, and maintain the ditch. It is only fitting that part of the money be used to improve the site from which the water is being taken.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate twelve per cent of the revenues from the Waiahole water system revolving fund, up to a maximum total of $300,000, to the department of land and natural resources for a complete master plan for Kahana, including an environmental impact statement.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the Waiahole water system revolving fund a sum equal to twelve per cent of the total deposits into the fund for fiscal year 2002-2003, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for fiscal year 2003-2004, and a sum equal to twelve per cent of the total deposits into the fund for fiscal year 2003-2004, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for fiscal year 2004-2005, up to a total for the combined fiscal years of $300,000, to be used for a complete master plan for Kahana, including an environmental impact statement. The master plan shall be done in close consultation with the lessees of Kahana.

SECTION 3. The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________