Shearwater deaths avoidable
Two more shearwaters dead, hit by cars on road to Allerton beach. This is a regular occurrence.
Road needs to be gated and closed nights.
Dave Talaber, Koloa
Another vote to open Maha‘ulepu gate
YES! YES! YES! Open the gate to Maha‘ulepu!!!
Why has nobody complained about this before?
It has been almost three years without access!!! How can Grove Farm deny access?
(I heard that the gate was closed because too many cars were broken into…)
I saw the letter to the editor from Kaylie Nakamura of Malama Maha‘ulepu in the Monday 9-26-22 TGI.
She mentions signing a petition on change.org, but I could not find that petition on that site. (Any help here?)
I am also still concerned about the water quality at Maha‘ulepu.
Has any water testing been done there recently?
I would love to hear some response to these issues.
Kathleen Johnson, Kalaheo
Grove Farm sells its free water
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has decided in favor of Kia‘i Wai o Wai‘ale‘ale in their suit challenging a decision by Judge Watanabe favoring the Kauai Department of Water (KDOW).
The suit challenged the construction of a 1.7-mile, 18-inch diameter pipe from the Waiahi surface (ditch) water-treatment plant to Lihu‘e.
KDOW and Grove Farm, co-owners of the treatment plant, claimed the new pipe was to address a pressure problem in the already existing 16-inch pipe. Kia‘i Wai o Wai‘ale‘ale showed that the new pipe was really to deliver water for Grove Farm’s property developments on the Eastside, notably their Lihu‘e Development Master Plan.
Underlying the immediate impacts of KDOW being required to start over with its environmental assessment is the presence of Grove Farm in the equation.
Because the predecessor sugar barons massively diverted streams to grow sugar cane with impunity, Grove Farm claims “legacy” rights to own the water. The Public Trust Doctrine, enshrined in Hawai‘i’s Constitution, bestows Hawai‘i’s people ownership of the water at its source, and anyone wanting to take it for their own purpose must apply for a lease and pay for the water.
Grove Farm diverts several streams on its own property, has never applied for a lease and pays nothing. Then it sells the water to the water-treatment plant for about $2 million a year, costs that are passed along to water customers.
Grove Farm no more owns the water it has taken than Trump owns the classified documents he has taken that belong to the American people.
With the Supreme Court’s ruling that the diversion of upstream waters must be reckoned with, all this may come to light. And not a moment too soon.
Kip Goodwin, Wailua Homesteads
