The nightmare associated with the name "Ka Loko Reservoir" still reverberates in Hawaii’s collective memory.

The breach of the reservoir dam on March 16, 2006, took seven lives and left a path of destruction on Kauai. The disaster led to the enactment of the Dam and Reservoir Safety Act of 2007. And, last week, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved stricter administrative rules on reservoir maintenance and safety — regulations that await Gov. Linda Lingle’s signature.

The amended rules, which would regulate 138 reservoirs in Hawaii that have the capacity to hold 5 million gallons or more, represent a vast improvement over the status quo.

Among their many elements, they more clearly regulate standards of design and upkeep, and require the operators of all dams built before July 6, 2007, to apply for a permit. They also authorize unannounced inspections and impose stiffer penalties and steeper fees.

It’s managing the cost of regulation that’s become the sore point here. Most of the concern centers on the expense of upgrades that the state would require, and the total pricetag is sure to be high: Of the 134 reservoirs the state already has surveyed, 121 have been rated as a "high hazard." So there is a lot of work that must be done to ensure public safety.

Farmers and ranchers have protested at hearings before the land board that the low-profit agricultural industry depends on these water sources and shouldn’t be expected to bear the entire burden. There are steps the state could take to help while maintaining the push for public safety.

Laura Thielen, the outgoing chairwoman of the state land board, said she will propose that the state Department of Agriculture identify which of the reservoirs are most critical to current agricultural operations so that the state might decide in which of the upgrades it should invest its limited resources to improve Hawaii’s agricultural systems. That would be a rational plan, given that the state wants to bolster agricultural capacity and should help bring its most critical infrastructure up to standard.

Further, the state has offered a discount of at least 50 percent on permit fees for improvements undertaken within the next three years, as an incentive to get these projects moving. This makes more sense than an alternative suggestion to lower the fees permanently, because a short-term reduction would help drive earlier completion of improvements.

And, for large agricultural landowners such as Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which owns 48 reservoirs, the state will enable a phase-in of improvements, waiving fees on lower-priority projects, so that the company won’t be hit by the full brunt of the estimated $100 million bill.

Alan Gottlieb, a past president of the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council, told the Star-Advertiser that many reservoirs "have been around a long time (and) have not failed." But the age of the agricultural system should set off more alarm bells rather than lull anyone into a false sense of complacency. Thielen rightly points out that in many cases, older reservoirs have been compromised, with tree roots causing cracks, spillways being blocked or otherwise becoming more of a hazard over time, not less.

The state’s reservoir system, like other facets of its infrastructure, has been allowed to fall into disrepair through deferred maintenance and spotty inspections. But even the high cost of putting it right is outweighed by the risk that more lives and property could be lost by watering down these rules or pushing the whole problem to a back burner again.