Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 12, 1 December 2011 — Protecting Kaloko-Honokohau from modern-day impacts [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Protecting Kaloko-Honokohau from modern-day impacts

Trustee's note: Tliis month's eoīumn is written by Jeff Zimpfer, Em>ironmental Protection Speciaīist with the Nationaī Park Service.

As we shared last month, beginning in the late 1960s Hawaiians organized to protect the makai areas of the Kohanaiki, Kaloko, Honokōhau and Kealakehe ahupua'a from development. They were motivated because many cultural practices are perpetuated in this plaee, relying on its rare and valued natural resources; it is also said to be where the iwi of Kamehameha Nui and possibly

Kahekili are buried. Because of the efforts of the Hawaiian community and the significance of the area, in 1978, Congress established Kaloko-Honokōhau Nahonal Historical Park to preserve, interpret and perpetuate traditional Native Hawaiian activities and culture. While creation of the park

protected this plaee from being developed, threats to this wahi pana now eome from neighboring lands, and the National Park Service (NPS) is again partnering with

the Hawaiian community to fulfill the park's mission. Many traditional and customary practices of Hawaiians in the park depend on abundant and elean groundwater that comes from mauka rains, whieh flow makai through the park as groundwater. From time immemorial through the establishment of the park, most of the surrounding lands were used for conservation or agriculture. Today, however, most lands surrounding the park are currently or proposed urban

zoning. Currently, there are more than a dozen proposed or ongoing developments within 2.5 miles of the park that will add thousands of residential homes, roadways and parking lots, industrial and commercial areas, and hotels and condominiums. The flow of groundwater into the park ean

be reduced by development, because of wells that are drilled around the park. If all wells permitted prior to 1998 were pumped at their maximum rate, groundwater discharge at the coastline in the park would be reduced to less than 50 percent of what flowed when the park was established. The decrease in freshwater flows would increase the salinity of the waters upon whieh the park's species and practitioners depend. To address this, the NPS is doing many things, including commenting to the State Commission on Water Resource Management on an update to the Water Use and Development Plan (WUDP) for Hawai'i County. The NPS commented that water resources along the Kona Coast are susceptible to pumping from higher elevation and coastal wells, and that cultural and ecological uses of groundwater are not recognized in the WUDP update, nor were they explicitly considered in the state's determination of the sustainable yield. The NPS is encouraging the commission to consider designating the Keauhou Aquifer System as a Water Management Area, whieh would provide them administrative control over the location and pumping rate of wells in the region.

The park's water quality is threatened by pollution from things like fertilizers, herbicides, oil, grease, metals, pathogens, toxic chemicals that eome from urban development. Mauka rain and irrigation ean carry pollutants down slope to the park in groundwater. Hawai'i Island has no stormwater treatment infrastructure; storm water is directed to "drywells," whieh are simply holes in the ground that allow storm water and pollution to enter the aquifer. Existing and planned homes around the park are allowed to use cesspools and septic systems, whieh ean contribute to pollution. Developments are also allowed to dispose of treated wastewater in "injection wells," whieh are simply holes in the ground that allow wastewater to enter groundwater. Impacts from human and animal waste have been seen on coral reefs on Maui and in the Caribbean. The NPS continues to work collaboratively with stakeholders to protect KalokoHonokōhau's cultural and natural resources from off-site impacts. Recently, OHA and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs passed resolutions encouraging stakeholders to actively work to protect elean, abundant groundwater in the area. ■

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Rūbert K. Lindsey, Jr. Trustee, Hawai'i