THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

187

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

Requesting the department of Land and Natural Resources to research the development of a sustainable flood project sponsorship ProGram to promote flood abatement in lands from waiahole to kahuku.

 

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is directly responsible for the management and administration of state public lands, including the minerals thereon, and all water and coastal areas of the State, except the commercial harbor areas of the State; and

WHEREAS, the public lands from Heeia to Kahuku are within the administrative jurisdiction of DLNR; and

WHEREAS, in December 2003, parts of Oahu experienced five to eleven inches of rain over a twenty-four hour period causing extensive flooding of public roads and highways and private streams and waterbeds; and

WHEREAS, flooding is a chronic and expensive problem in the lands from Heeia to Kahuku due to changes in the vegetative cover and infiltration rates of soils on properties above and adjacent to watercourses; and

WHEREAS, the stagnant waters on the roads and lands are contaminated with chemicals and wastes from farm areas, causing serious health and safety concerns; and

WHEREAS, it is important to provide and maintain adequate drainage systems free from silt build-up, especially in lands adjacent to, within, and under floodways; and

WHEREAS, public and private property owners have suffered thousands of dollars in damages caused by flooding, and those damages are often uninsured; and

WHEREAS, landlords and lessees often do not have a clear understanding of the need to maintain their portions of regional drainage systems when an agency or group agrees to sponsor regional watershed projects; and

WHEREAS, despite federal funding for emergency disasters, local and state sponsorship of flood projects is limited due to their recurrent operational and maintenance costs and health, safety, and legal liabilities; and

WHEREAS, residents and small business owners throughout the Waiahole and Kahuku areas have expressed concern about the chronic and often paralyzing effects of recurrent flooding, including impacts on emergency vehicle access and extensive damage to crops; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, moneys were appropriated by Act 295, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, as amended by Act 177, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002, to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for a Kahuku flood control study; and

WHEREAS, in mid-December 2003, a request to allot the appropriated moneys was submitted to Governor Linda Lingle; however, as of January 6, 2004, the moneys appropriated for the Kahuku flood study had not been released and will lapse on June 30, 2004; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, Oahu residents from Heeia to Kahuku have suffered as a result of heavy rains that caused flooding, rockslides, road closures, and crop loss by farmers in the Heeia to Kahuku area; and

WHEREAS, in Kahuku, rainwater backs up mauka of Kamehameha Highway because the use of the land changed after the Kahuku Sugar Mill closed in 1971, and stream and river outlets now are too overgrown to allow the excess rainwater to drain into the ocean; and

WHEREAS, because existing elevation of a greater portion of Kamehameha Highway is only slightly above or at sea level, during heavy or even normal rainfalls the highway becomes impassable because of flooding, thus isolating residents; and

WHEREAS, in May 2002, farmers in the area suffered extensive crop damage or loss, as well as damage to equipment and supplies, after only two days of rainfall; and

WHEREAS, the damage occurred primarily in areas adjacent to streams and in low-lying areas with poor drainage; and

WHEREAS, the damage and inconvenience that residents from Heeia to Kahuku endure from normal to heavy rainfall could be mitigated if flood control measures to control peak flows from storms were implemented in the area; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to conduct a flood abatement study to determine the best mitigation measures to reduce damage and inconvenience to residents and property in the area of Heeia to Kahuku, in particular, the areas covered by panels 45, 135, 155, 165, 255, 260, 265, and 270 of the Natural Flood Insurance Rate Maps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Governor Lingle is requested to release to the Department of Land and Natural Resources the moneys appropriated by the Twenty-First Legislature for a Kahuku flood control study before the appropriation's lapse date of June 30, 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that after conducting a flood abatement study of the area from Heeia to Kahuku, the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to submit to the Legislature its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, relating to mitigation measures and the implementation of the planning, design, and construction of recommended mitigation measures no later than twenty days before the convening of the following Regular Session of the Legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is respectfully requested to:

(1) Conduct a community-based information campaign in the flood-affected Oahu communities of Heeia and Kahuku;

(2) Identify flood concerns, damages, and opportunities from Heeia to Kahuku; and

(3) Gather information, data, and area maps to be used for research and analysis for a Heeia and Kahuku flood study; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2005, to include the following:

(1) A description of the study area;

(2) Findings and outcomes from developing and delivering activities relating to a community-based information campaign in the flood-affected Oahu communities of Heeia to Kahuku; and

(3) A financial plan illustrating costs and benefits of work to be used to create a functioning agency-business-community partnership focused on serving local community needs and on developing a process to be replicated elsewhere throughout Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Director of Civil Defense, and Director of Transportation.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Requesting DLNR to conduct a study on flood abatement.