Bill Text: HI HB1218 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Making An Appropriation For A Capital Improvement Project At Kawainui Marsh On The Island Of Oahu.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-15 - Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Kobayashi, Oshiro excused (2). [HB1218 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2017-HB1218-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1218 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
Making an Appropriation for A Capital Improvement Project at Kawainui Marsh on the Island of Oahu.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The Kawainui marsh, encompassing approximately eight hundred thirty acres of land in Kailua, Oahu, is the State's largest remaining wetland and an ecological and cultural treasure of statewide interest. The marsh has been identified by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a primary habitat for a number of endemic and endangered Hawaiian birds. In 2005, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands designated the Kawainui marsh as a wetland of international importance, in part due to the marsh's relationship to surrounding cultural sites.
The legislature finds that the Kawainui marsh, apart from its cultural and ecological significance, provides critical benefits for the Kailua region. First, the marsh acts as a sediment trap for runoff entering into the marsh from the streams of the Kailua watershed, thereby keeping harmful nutrients and pollutants out of Kailua Bay. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that runoff from land-based pollution is the primary cause of coral reef degradation, causing poor water quality in the reef and increased algae growth that can crowd out coral colonies. Further, sediment deposited from streams can literally smother coral. By acting as a trap for sediment that might otherwise harm the reef, the Kawainui marsh is critical in protecting the health of the fragile offshore marine ecosystem. This role has become even more important as the Kailua region has urbanized.
The legislature further finds that the marsh acts as a flood control basin, ponding 6.8 to 9.5 million gallons per day of freshwater runoff from area streams each day. Unfortunately, due to increased soil erosion caused by the urbanization of the Kailua region, sediment has begun to clog the marsh's waterways. Over the past century, this has resulted in a steady decrease in the volume of the marsh's basin and water storage capacity. In addition, the practice of discharging partially treated, nutrient-rich wastewater directly into the marsh during the 1960s stimulated the rapid growth of exotic vegetation in the waterways, causing previously open water channels to close, decreasing the flow of water through the marsh. This has caused even more sediment to be trapped in the marsh, even further decreasing the storage capacity of the basin. In fact, research has shown that a four hundred fifty acre portion of the marsh that was historically kept clear by native Hawaiians to be used as a fishpond has shrunk to a fraction of its former size, due largely to sediment accumulation and increased vegetation growth. This overall reduction in capacity has increased the likelihood of flooding in the Kailua region, as has been seen a number of times in recent history, including a particular severe flood on New Year's Eve in 1987 in Coconut Grove that was attributed in large part to saturation of the Kawainui basin.
The legislature believes that it is essential that the State make improvements to the ponds at the Kawainui marsh to ensure that the marsh continues to act as an effective flood basin, protecting surrounding property owners, and as an important habitat to threatened endemic species both within the marsh itself as well as offshore in Kailua Bay.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the director of finance to issue general obligation bonds to fund the Kawainui water management infrastructure and flood mitigation project to:
(1) Install water management infrastructure for wildlife ponds; and
(2) Contour stream banks and overflow channels to manage flood waters.
SECTION 2. The director of finance is authorized to issue general obligation bonds in the sum of $1,200,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary is appropriated for fiscal year 2017-2018 for the purpose of financing the following capital improvement project for the department of land and natural resources:
1. To be expended by the department of land and natural resources:
A. Kawainui
water management infrastructure and flood mitigation
Install water management infrastructure for wildlife ponds and contour stream
banks and overflow channels to manage flood waters.
Plans $ 100,000
Design 100,000
Construction 1,000,000
Total funding $ 1,200,000
SECTION 3. The appropriation made for the capital improvement project authorized by this Act shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal biennium for which the appropriation is made; provided that all moneys from the appropriation unencumbered as of June 30, 2020, shall lapse as of that date.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2017.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
CIP; Kawainui Marsh
Description:
Authorizes issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriates moneys for a capital improvement project by DLNR to install water management infrastructure for wildlife ponds and contour stream banks and overflow channels to manage flood waters at Kawainui Marsh.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
