RETURN TO ALEKOKO TIDBITS

Let's Build Houses on it.

Menehune Fishpond subdivision planned

by Amy Heard

 

Okada Trucking, of Honolulu, has asked the state Land Use Commission for a boundary change to allow construction of houselots in Niumalu.  The application asks for a reclassification from agriculture to urban of 40.55 acres near the Menehune Fishpond mauka of Hulemalu Road. The plot sits on a bluff overlooking the Fishpond and Huleia Stream.

 

Ken Uyeda, the realtor for the project, said the land was purchased from Kanoa Estate two months ago for roughly $1 million. Uyeda said Okada Trucking is proposing to build something that Kauai can be proud of," medium-income housing project that might provide 125 homes. Uyeda described the homes as family-style, saying they would probably be custom-designed because the developer doesn't want the project "to look like a plantation village,"

 

Okada Trucking's proposed dredging of the Fishpond, a plan under scrutiny by the Planning Commission should improve the view of those who decide to buy into the subdivision, since, according to Uyeda; the Fishpond is currently "an eyesore."

 

A representative from the Land Use Commission said that tentatively, a public hearing regarding the project will take place sometime in September.

 

A representative from the Land Use Commission said that tentatively, a public hearing regarding the project will take place sometime in September.

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 June 7. 1986

Mr. Avery Youn

Director Planning

Dept. County of Kauai,

Lihue, HI 96766

 

Aloha:

 

I was notified that Alekoko fishpond will again be worked on by its new owners. My impression is that they want to restore the pond and use it for commercial aquaculture. Both purposes are very commendable and I applaud their intent,

 

I did not read their proposal but any project on such a significant historic and archaeological site requires considerable care. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 before any site register in these islands was adopted. Such designation implies that any funds involving federal grants or federal involvement can be terminated if the site is adversely affected. Therefore, for the owners, the project immediately takes on a very significant status.

 

To undertake restoration a plan mast be developed to oversee the careful removal of trees on and around the walls. Since this intrudes into Huleia River, the US Army Corps of Engineers must be involved. My experience with mangrove control and removal suggests that a floating crane yanking-out the trees by their roots will not work. Herbicides can control and kill the trees, but this method will have an adverse effect on the water and all marine, esturine and bird life ion the area. My experience with mangrove control suggests a need for considerable number of man-hours of careful cutting, removal, and burning.

 

Further, the walls are breached in many places; this will require excavation and stabilization by a trained archaeologist and a team of skilled workers. The 1946 tsunami and later neglect have allowed the deterioration of the wall to the point that considerable rework must be done to restore the entire kuapa (fishpond wall).

 

A third area of concern is the siltation of the fishpond. This is a natural occurrence, which was promoted by the breaching of the walls and the years of maintenance. Major dredging of the pond would prove too disastrous as large suction or draglines operations affect the very-silt that gives the pond its life. These methods are operations that are fast but which cause much damage to the environment. The dredged silt needs to be moved to another area and this would be very costly. I would like to bring to your attention a method tested at Kaloko fishpond on Hawaii, which worked extremely well. This utilized a small raft with a small suction pipe that was connected to the shore. The small quantities of silt removed and recovered could be conveniently disposed truckload by truckload. The small-scale operation took several months to clear sections of the fishpond and caused almost no environmental problems to both pond and the land. Such a raft operation was operated by one person and was quite inexpensive to run. The fishpond should not be less than 3 feet deep at low tide so the amount of sill removed from Alekoko would be very small. I estimate that only a quarter of the pond is now silted at low tide, which would amount to approximately 2 million cubic feet of silt to be removed. Large suction pipes and drag-line operations would have no depth control and probably a much larger volume of material would be dredged up causing enormous turbidity conditions which would seep out into Huleia River.

 

In 1973, when I was involved in the study of Alekoko fishpond, we attempted to gauge the-depth of the silt within the pond. Two-8 foot sections of survey rods were pushed into the silt, (a very unwise thing to do) and they are still there, We found only that the silt is very deep and very soft within--this silt lies both the geological and archaeological history of the pond, and before any dredging is conducted, a thorough coring of the pond is recommended to obtain data so vitally needed by the archaeologist. Once dredging begins, the stratigraphic record will be disturbed. Therefore, before any restoration of the pond is attempted, a detailed coring study by an archaeologist needs to be completed.

 

I am afraid that the commercial use of Alekoko, like so many similar projects on Kauai, will turn out to be a short-termed ill-managed, failure-prone affair. Questions on how this project is to be designed, operated,  financed and managed need to be answered in detail. Past experiences in aquaculture in these islands indicate that research-oriented aquacultural projects are the only ones that survive because research projects do not need to be economically feasible. I would suggest that the commercial use of the pond be married to or jointly operated by a research institution. A successful commercial aquacultural venture at the fishpond would be an ideal function of the site as its original construction was for a similar purpose.

           

The restoration, reconstruction, stabilization and commercial use of the Alekoko fishpond would have a significant effect on the site, the physical and biological environment of the area's ecology and on the county's economy. All of these suggest a careful detailed plan so that the project can succeed with minimum adverse impact. Therefore, an EIS is highly recommended as a requirement.

           

If I can be of any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely yours,

William K. Kikuchi, archaeologist

tel.  245-8311. (bus.)

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