Musings: Water Logged

Watching yesterday's County Council workshop on water use in the Puna (east Kauai) district was kind of like deja vu all over again as I kept flashing back on the GMO issue.

Except in this case, it's about giving the state complete management control over water use in the Lihue-Hanamaulu area.

Now let's get this straight. The state, which supposedly was doing such a lousy job managing pesticides on the westside that the county had to intervene with Bill 2491, is now being asked to assume more control over eastside water resources because the county is supposedly doing such a lousy job managing them.

OK.

This bit of twisted logic is the work of Councilmen Tim Bynum and Gary Hooser, the same two men who sponsored Bill 2491. Now they're pushing a petition to have the state designate south Puna, which includes the south fork of the Wailua River and the Huleia River, as a special Ground-Surface Water Management Area.

This designation would require all water users in the area to seek permits from the state Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) — a process that UH law school professor Kapua Sproat admitted “can be very time-consuming, labor intensive and require the use of legal council.” In other words, small farmers dependent on the East Kauai Water Users Cooperative would be screwed, while the big guys like Grove Farm could still play.

Kapua also acknowledged that efforts to designate similar management areas on other islands have typically been “emotional” and “highly controversial and politicized.”

But rather than learn from the divisiveness that characterized the debate over 2491, Gary and Tim are repeating the exact same tactics they employed then — excluding key stakeholders from the discussion, fear-mongering, casting unfounded aspersions of wrong-doing, deliberately promulgating misinformation, relying on non-expert testimony and failing to begin with any Council consensus.

They started by staging yesterday's totally biased “informational briefing,” which excluded major stakeholders — the county Department of Water, landowners, water users, ditchmen and scientific experts. Instead, the presentation was made by Adam Asquith, who admitted he's not actually a hydrologist, he just plays one on TV, and Kapua, who flew in with her students from Honolulu to talk about laws regarding the public trust resource.

Adam tossed out words like “shocking” and “aghast,” and said water was such an “emotional and powerful” issue that he would read most of his report rather than ad lib, so as to ensure he maintained his scientific objectivity — like he actually has any on this topic. Oh, but first he trotted out his Hawaiian hanai son to do a chant, just to demonstrate his kanaka creds. It's so sad to see him keep using his kid that way.

Adam laid out his interpretation of what's happening with ground and surface water in south Puna before pronouncing that “we have fully commercialized use of our water” for such purposes as homes, hydroelectric power and “corporate agriculture.” Which, presumably, does not include his own taro farm, even though he sells his harvest and employs immigrant labor. Adam then proclaimed “we probably have an issue that needs to be resolved.”

Adam also repeatedly stated that the county DOW was not reporting any of its surface or ground water use to CWRM, as required by state law. Kapua's students also made that statement.

It was not until the very end of the 3.5-hour presentation that DOW reps finally got a chance to speak, at which point they said the presentation had a number of inaccuracies and they are indeed dutifully reporting all their well and surface water use. But by then, the aspersions had already been cast.

By then, Gary had already swallowed Adam's presentation hook, line and sinker, proclaiming it “alarming in many respects.” He then allowed that other stakeolders might have different opinions, before asking Adam — an admitted non-expert — “You believe the evidence and information is clear?”

“Yes,” Adam replied. And that was good enough for Gary — even though he hadn't heard from anyone else, including DOW.

And by then, Tim, though equally ill-informed, had passed judgment on DOW: “Our water department knew we had groundwater problems [in Lihue] 10 years ago, that why we built a surface water treatment system. Wasn't that use from day one inconsistent with the public trust?”

“I'll just let that hang in the air,” replied Adam.

What Tim either didn't know or didn't say is that system — a cooperative effort by Grove Farm and DOW — was approved by CWRM, which considers public trust resources when making decisions. It's also the same agency that would oversee the special management area that Tim wants to create.

Tim, his eyes glinting, then asked if the public trust resource extended to soil. "If you own the land, does that also mean you own the soil?" he asked. Kapua wisely demurred rather than allow Tim to publicly expound on the ramifications of the government coming in and dictating soil use.

It wasn't until the very end of the meeting that we learned DOW had asked to see a copy of the presentation before-hand, but was denied.

If the true goal of the meeting was to "foster dialogue and education," why wouldn't you share it? Why wouldn't you invite DOW to join the presentation, along with the USGS hydrologists who studied the Lihue water system and the folks who currently maintain the stream diversions and use the water?

Wouldn't you want to get all the facts on the table at once? 

Unless, of course, you wanted to present a skewed version so as to influence public opinion, broadside your opponents and put everyone on the defense trying to refute lies that have already been uttered and repeated and thus ingrained into public consciousness.

Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask got it, advising the Council that pursuing such a designation is “a big issue. Expert testimony from trained professionals needs to be part of the discussion.”

To her credit, Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura got it too, firmly stating that more time was needed to bring in those stakeholders, and ensure the presence of all Councilmembers — Ross Kagawa and Mel Rapozo were absent, and Chair Jay Furfaro was in and out. Tim and Gary, meanwhile, were pushing to quickly move the petition forward, perhaps because they both rightly fear their time on the Council is running out.

And though Gary is chair of the committee that staged the presentation, he asked Mason Chock to run the meeting. That way Mason looked like the chump behind this one-sided show, rather than the real perps. Mason, when are you going to learn these guys are playing you? They're sharks. They aren't your friends.

A special management area may indeed prove to be a wise move for protecting water resources. Or not. Either way, it's a very big deal, with a lot of repercussions for agriculture and future development, including the Lihue town plan and county General Plan. There's absolutely no reason why the petition should be rushed. 

And there's absolutely no reason why the discussion should be framed by the same two politicians who so horribly distorted the biotech industry's operations on Kauai and polarized the community in the process.

Wake up, people. Like I said, these guys are sharks. They aren't your friends.