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Kuahiwi Ranch on Big Isle faces battle for water

By Ronit Fahl / Special to the Star-Advertiser

March 9, 2019

1/16
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Video by Ronit Fahl / Special to the Star-Advertiser
Kuahiwi Ranch is one of about a dozen water users, including Alexander & Baldwin, the electric utilities and farming operations throughout the state, that are facing an end-of-the-year deadline to convert state water permits into long-term leases — or risk losing access to water.
2/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

The Legislature is considering a bill that would give public water users like Kuahiwi Ranch another seven years to complete the lease process but it is not certain to pass. House Bill 1326 has drawn criticism from environmentalists who take issue with water users like Alexander & Baldwin who divert large amounts of stream water. Pictured are cattle on Kuahiwi Ranch.
3/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Michelle Galimba saved an orphaned calf Saturday on her family-owned Kuahiwi Ranch in Pahala on Hawaii island. The ranch relies on underground water that runs through a pipe set along mountainous terrain in Kau to provide water to about 1,500 cattle.
4/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Michelle Galimba relies on underground water that runs through a two-inch pipe set along mountainous terrain in Kau on Hawaii island to provide water to about 1,500 hundred cattle on her family-owned Kuahiwi Ranch.
5/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Kuahiwi Ranch is facing an end of the year deadline to convert state water permits into long-term leases — or risk losing access to water. “I am worried about it if I did lose access,” said Michelle Galimba. “It is not just me, it’s a whole bunch of people out here who would be severely impacted. It’s people’s livelihoods.”
6/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

The process for gaining a long-term lease isn’t all that clear and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which oversees the permitting and leasing processes, hasn’t come up with key criteria to help move the process along despite having three years to do so.
7/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Michelle Galimba and other water users contacted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser seemed unsure of some of the requirements, including a public auction process. Meanwhile, DLNR didn’t respond to requests for the procedures for converting a permit to a lease, despite saying they existed.
8/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Michelle Galimba and other area ranchers have been using about 12 million to 45 million gallons of underground water annually under a state revocable permit, according DLNR documents.
9/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

The amount is minuscule when compared to Alexander & Baldwin, which until recently was allowed to divert as much as 450 million gallons a day of stream water on Maui.
10/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

State officials recently set the limit at 80 million gallons a day. Despite the disparity, the two users must adhere to the same statutory requirements, according to DLNR.
11/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Alexander & Baldwin, which first began seeking a long-term lease for its water use in 2001, says it’s near completing the process, including conducting an environmental impact statement. But the company still must go through a public auction for the water.
12/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

In order for this to happen, DLNR needs to conduct an appraisal of the water source, draft a lease document and develop minimum criteria for a watershed management plan, according to Alexander & Baldwin.
13/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

DLNR says it hasn’t finalized criteria for doing a watershed management plan. And as of late last year, documents indicate that the department was still struggling with how to appraise water sources.
14/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

For Michelle Galimba and other ranchers in Kau the process is all the more daunting because of the potential cost, which may include an environmental impact statement that could run hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s also not clear if each rancher that uses water would be responsible for doing their own watershed management plan.
15/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

“Honestly, I think (DLNR) is trying to figure out how to do it at the same time we are because it’s really complicated and there are different scales of water use going on and really different water use and sources,” said Michelle Galimba.
16/16
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RONIT FAHL / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

“It’s kind of crazy because you have to do all of this permitting and then you go out for public auction. So that was a question a lot of us had was ‘OK, you do all of this and then somebody else can bid against you because you have already done it. How does that work? How is that fair?’” she said. “They didn’t really have an answer.”
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