Join Community's Demand for EIS on West Kauaʻi Energy Project!
It is time to submit your comments on KIUC’s new hydro-power plant proposal for West Kaua’i, the West Kauaʻi Energy Project (WKEP). For this project, KIUC is proposing to construct a new hydro-power plant, renovate century-old ditches and diversions, and consume 11 million gallons of water from Waimea River everyday. Shockingly, KIUC insists on only completing an Environmental Assessment for this project. The community is calling for a much more robust and thorough Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) because this is a major new project being built on top of old sugar plantation diversions that have caused significant lasting harm to West Kaua‘i’s communities. Everyone should fully understand the implications of KIUC’s new proposal for producing electricity from hydropower in West Kauaʻi.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
Proposes to fix up abandoned sugar plantation diversions, and use them in a new hydropower plant to divert water from the Waimea River, at an annual average of 11 million gallons a day.
Would require several very significant government approvals, including a long-term water lease (KIUC is asking for 65 years!), a Conservation District Use permit, and a Clean Water Act permit,
Would trigger significant run-off over the Mānā Plain, further damaging nearshore waters and fisheries.
Would perpetuate significant environmental injustice for the people of West Kauaʻi.
Would require using heavy construction equipment in the river and in important habitats for protected and endangered species, and areas of known ʻiwi kupuna and historic sites.
We know the devastating impact that stream diversions have on the people and wildlife that depend on them. We should not double-down on the destructive choices of the past. Now is the time for new innovative solutions to Kauaʻi’s climate challenges. We need solutions that protect water as a vital lifeblood that it is. Solutions that do double-duty producing renewable electricity and growing food for local consumption.
So far, we are not seeing those kinds of innovative solutions in this WKEP proposal. That is why the community is asking for help in amplifying their demand that KIUC complete a full EIS on the WKEP.
HOW YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW:
Email Lauren.E.Yasaka@hawaii.gov as soon as you can.
Comments are due Oct. 10, 2022.
WHY DEMAND AN EIS:
Alternatives Analysis. An EIS is required to fully analyze alternatives to the proposed action as a way to help decision makers understand what is at stake in the proposed project. With just an EA, alternative approaches are not fully evaluated.
Full analysis of harms. An EIS is required to reveal and evaluate all of the harms from a proposed action, and to consider activities that will mitigate those harms. In an EA, there is no mitigation of the harms caused by the project proposal. Indeed, the project proponent is incentivized in an EA to downplay impacts in order to secure a “finding of no significant impact.”
Law requires an EIS. In this proposal, KIUC will be required to secure a long-term lease to access water from state lands, conservation district use permit (authorizes construction in the conservation zone), Clean Water Act permit for discharges into streams and nearshore waters – all of these approvals require an EIS.
TAKE ACTION NOW
Please send an email directly to DLNR staff about why a full EIS is required for the WKEP. Use these talking points and questions to express your concerns IN YOUR OWN WORDS to decision makers. Taking 2 minutes to personalize your comments makes them 2x more powerful and effective.
EMAIL TEMPLATE:
SUBJECT: Public Comment: Require EIS for WKEP
Aloha Ms. Yasaka,
I am writing to request a full environmental impact statement for the West Kauaʻi Energy Project being proposed by the Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative. The second environmental assessment they published raises more questions than answers about how this project will affect the health of Waimea River, and the quality of life for Waimea residents.
Mahalo,
