HANAMA‘ULU — Donna Schultze has called Kaua‘i home for 41 years, so when she heard about a proposal that includes drilling a high-elevation well through Wai‘ale‘ale, she knew one thing: She didn’t like it. Schultze, along with other locals, argues
HANAMA‘ULU — Donna Schultze has called Kaua‘i home for 41 years, so when she heard about a proposal that includes drilling a high-elevation well through Wai‘ale‘ale, she knew one thing: She didn’t like it.
Schultze, along with other locals, argues that the central mountains of Kaua‘i are wao akua, or the realm of gods, and that humans have no right to tap water there.
“They can’t go through that mountain,” the Kilauea resident said.
David Craddick, manager of the Kaua‘i Water Department, said the estimated $50 million well project is an effort to reduce operation costs for electricity and treated water.
“That’s the only purpose of it,” he said.
Some aren’t buying it.
A public scoping meeting on the horizontal directional well on Thursday turned contentious. Nearly 100 people turned out at King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School, with so many voicing opposition to the plan that the DOW will make a number of changes to its approach, including extending its scoping comment period through May 10 to allow more time for preconsultation.
The department is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement to study ways to reduce energy costs for pumping water in the Lihu‘e-Kapa‘a area.
One of them is to drill a high-elevation well, which would feed the entire region by gravity, and would allow the deactivation of electricity-expensive wells and a high-cost surface water treatment facility. Drilling would be around two miles, horizontally.
Testimony during Thursday’s scoping meeting was described as “often combative, sometimes loud and occasionally lyrical.”
Some called for the investigation to be halted or delayed due to the proximity to the culturally important mountain, Wai‘ale‘ale.
A few objected to the use of the EIS process at all for a project involving water use. A few felt questions went unanswered and others weren’t given a chance to talk.
Hawaiian heritage, Schultze said, can’t be dismissed.
“When you live here, you have to respect all the cultures,” Schultze said.
No support for the plan was voiced Thursday.
“We heard several questions about the financial impact of the well project, and we decided to conduct an economic feasibility study immediately rather than later in the project,” said Jim Williams, project manager for the Mears Group, which leads the project team.
Craddick said officials will try to improve communications so people have a better understanding of the project and why it’s being proposed. Cost of drilling the well and creating the infrastructure to transport water would be made up in savings over the next 25 years, he said.
He said he was surprised that many seemed suspicious of the plan and the reasons for it. Some suggested it was about selling bottled water and providing a water supply for biotech seed companies.
In ancient times, he added, Kaua‘i residents got their water from up high as it flowed down the mountains.
“All we’re doing is going back to the way it was,” he said.
It doesn’t have to go forward, he said, but it’s needed. Without it, costs and water bills will rise.
“We encourage interested members of the public to submit comments on whether to significantly change the scope of this proposal to increase the Kaua‘i water system’s energy efficiency, sustainability and resilience, and what additional studies to undertake,” Craddick said.
