As head of an agricultural group, Jerry Ornellas said he’s aware of the challenges of maintaining a more than 20-mile-long ditch and tunnel water system in East Kauai — a system formerly operated by East Kauai Water, a business associated with Lihue Sugar Plantation.
But he said taking care of the water system keeps the doors open for agricultural growth.
"There’s potential there," said Ornellas, president of the 30-member East Kauaʻi Water Users’ Cooperative, which includes ranchers and farmers. "It’s important we keep these systems going."
With help from the cooperative, state officials are continuing to maintain the water collection system developed in the early 1900s when the plantation cultivated some 6,000 acres of sugar cane land.
The state took over the system in 2002 after the announced closure of the plantation.
The latest proposed state construction project is the building of a new Upper Kapahi Dam, 2 miles northwest of Kapaa.
A draft environmental assessment for the Upper Kapahi Reservoir Dam Replacement Project is available for public review and comment at the state Office of Environmental Quality Control. The 30-day comment deadline is June 23.
After the Kaloko Dam failure in 2006, the Upper Kapahi Dam was evaluated by the Army Corps of Engineers and its embankment was determined to be inadequate and its reservoir drained in 2012.
The proposed new dam, costing an estimated $3.5 million, would be built within the former dam and have a normal storage capacity of 11.4 million gallons, less than its former 30 million gallons.
State officials determined that fixing the former dam would cost up to $20 million and exceed available funds.
Ornellas said farmers have been drawing water from a ditch that passes through the old reservoir. He said the proposed reservoir will hold enough water to allow them to have more long-term planning.
He said he realizes that the proposed reservoir won’t have as much water as before, but building a reservoir to its former size would cost too much.
"We’re realistic and pragmatic enough to know there are economic realities," he said.
Ornellas said the size of the proposed reservoir is below the regulatory scrutiny of the former Upper Kapahi Dam.
"The proposed structure is considered very safe," he said.
Construction is expected to take 12 months, if it’s unaffected by rain, or will be done in two seven-month periods.
State officials said the purpose of the project is to restore some of the water storage lost due to the shutdown of the former reservoir and prevent a shift in demand toward the county water system.
A copy of the draft study can be reviewed at tinyurl.com/6opf5ah, on the second page of the document, or call 586-4185.
