APRIL 2014


"Adopt the pace of nature:
her secret is patience."

Ralph Waldo Emerson
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KRCA Homeowners
Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, May 21, 2014
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Kilauea Neighborhood Center

Kalihiwai Ridge homeowners can find official minutes to KRCA Board of Directors meetings by setting up their own Account Log In at
www.associaonline.com.  They can assist you in getting your 7 digit homeowner number.  After you have that you will then need to set up a User Name and Password.  You can also set up having the Agenda to these meetings sent to you by e-mail the day before the meetings are held every other month.


My Impressions

The inspection results of the DLNR can be found on the Dam & Ditch section of the website so no need to repeat myself here.  Let me just say it was a very well attended inspection and our direction for remediations has been clearly stated by Dam Safety Engineers Edwin Matsuda and Denise Manuel.  They are a great resource for us moving forward and take what feels like a special interest in seeing our dam comes into Satisfactory compliance with current standards and best practices of dam care, maintenance and operation.  The Dam Safety Certificate of Approval to Impound water is on hold and our ITC H&H Study is with Denise awaiting her approval.  The CAI for dam and reservoir owners is meant to insure their structures are remedied of critical deficiencies while meeting minimal operational criteria.  We are in the planning stages of remediating our deficiencies in order to submit an application along with our water use easement holders.

Since the process of widening the spillway and filling in our downstream embankments to a better slope ratio will take years to complete, a repair of the outflow gate and culvert will make for a safer dam in the interim waiting period.  It will also allow us to return the lake to a recreational level as provided by our Settlement Agreement with our water use easement holders.  We will appeal to their partnership in this matter to have this work completed over the dryer summer months with DLNR promising an emergency permitting process to take about two months and then about a week to construct the repair and install a new lighter weight and functional aluminum gate and filled in PVC round culvert to prevent further erosion and the risk of potential cave in where the metal plates are currently placed on top of the tunnel.

This will allow the reservoir to reliably hold water for the first time in years without constant loss of water and erosion of the outflow tunnel.  The ultimate goal is for an unmanned outflow system to be in place with a wider spillway, but this midlevel outflow and our existing spillway does provide the ability to more safely control the exit of our excess water, essential during storms predicted to have high rainfall as a prevention to the dam overtopping and causing erosion.  Our dam crest is 40 feet wide and if armored with construction grade gravel of even 12 feet width could better preserve our dam into the future.  It is currently patrolled and inspected on a daily basis.  This vehicle traffic on the dam without gravel protection in the rainy season especially has caused serious ruts and erosion that could otherwise be prevented.

We are definitely moving forward as is the goal of our KRCA board members.  It is actually very exciting to think we can see such progress in the years ahead.  Our new Dam Committee of John Donatoni, Jim Bray, Jim Gair and myself are committed to moving these projects along in a more timely way.  We are doing all we can to insure access to and enjoyment of our common area.  The lakeside membership will be replacing the four chairs with two new benches on the dam this year.  We hope in 2015 once the access road is completed and the outflow is functioning safely we will submit plans to our Environmental Committee for a dock with two kayaks in place for member use.  It is long overdue we all begin to enjoy this one of a kind North shore lake and wildlife refuge.  It is indeed a very special place in our community, well worth preserving for now and for the future generations who will be fortunate enough to live here at Kalihiwai Ridge.

Until we meet again.

Aloha, Maggie Lea

Suggested Readings:
Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation in Hawai`i: 2012
Reference:  Commission on Water Resource Management
Click here to download PDF file

Koamalu Volumes 1&2
by Ethel M Damon, 1931
A story of pioneers on Kauai and of what they built in that island garden

Sugar Water by Carol Wilcox 1996
Hawaiian & English definitions from the book:
wai - water, blood, passion, life
wai wai - wealth
pani wai - dam
water - transparent, odorless, tasteless, liquid, H2O

Wetland habitat non-invasive plant suggestions:
bacopa, makaloa, carex, aka 'akai, neke
kupukupu, laua'e


Links:

Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge
www.fws.gov/hanalei

Kauai Forest Birds Recovery Project
www.kauaiforestbirds.org 

Sounds Hawaiian
www.soundshawaiian.com/birds

National Wildlife Federation
www.nwf.org

Kalihiwai Reservoir is a
Certified Wildlife Habitat

Ducks Unlimited
www.ducksunlimited.com

Fishing Notes
www.fishingnotes.com

Hawaii Audubon Society
www.hawaiiaudubon.com

Sierra Club Hawaii
www.sierraclubhawaii.com




Sufi at the helm of Moe Moku