Reid Ginoza at 19:22, 4 June 2006

2006-06-04T19:22:19Z

Reid Ginoza at 22:53, 10 March 2006

2006-03-10T22:53:17Z

New page

for State lands of equivalent value.
Approximately 11,927 acres of the Home
lands were lands withdrawn under
GEO's. According to testimony of the
(then) Chairman of the Commission,
action by DLNR in responding to the
exchange proposals was taking time
because of other priority workload
considerations* And, according to the
current Chairman, this exchange
proposal has been withdrawn by DHHL
because it does not have a complete
and comprehensive land inventory and
the Commission did not want to give up
land that they knew nothing about.
Home lands in the Puukapu area on
the island of Hawaii were withdrawn
under GEO's in 1955 and 1958 for
development of reservoirs as part of
the Lalamilo Irrigation System
operated by the State. Although the
reservoirs are on Home lands, native
Hawaiian homesteaders received no
benefits, until 1982, and DHHL
received no compensation for use of
these lands for the irrigation project
even though the State receives revenue
from delivery of the irrigation
water.
The irrigation system was designed
to serve the Lalamilo farm lots area
consisting of 670 acres. According to
the DHHL Homestead Project Manager,
the Lalamilo farm area is a State of
Hawaii project on State lands and the
farms are leased to individuals who
are not necessarily native Hawaiians.
The irrigation system includes the two
reservoirs situated on Home lands; the
60-million-gallon Waimea Reservoir
situated on 22.7 acres under GEO 1707
issued December 1, 1955; and a
135-million-gallon lake (Puu Pulehu
Reservoir) originally under GEO 1869,
November 28, 1958, which was canceled
on July 11, 1980. We were told that
the lake receives the overflow water
from the Waimea Reservoir and, at the
time of our review, there was no water
delivery system from the lake to any
farms. A transmission pipe delivers
water to the Lalamilo farms from the
Waimea Reservoir and runs through Home
lands under an easement covered by GEO
1707.
Until recently, homestead farms in
the Puukapu area were served only by
domestic water which costs more than
irrigation water. According to a
March 1982 study prepared by the
United States Department of
Agriculture, the monthly water bill
for an average size truck farm using
domestic water would be about $230,
compared to $60 if agricultural water
was used. We were told that the
homesteaders were given an opportunity
to be connected to the irrigation
system at the time the system was put
into operation. We were unable,
however, to satisfy ourselve- as to
the reasons why the homesteaders were
not connected to the system at that
time.
We conclude that, unless the
Commission and the State of Hawaii
assign a high priority and provide the
staff and resources necessary for
resolving the withdrawn lands issue,
it will take many years before DHHL
receives compensation or lands in
exchange for Home lands that have been
withdrawn for public use.
Land Exchanges
There have been seven exchanges of
land under the provisions of Section
204 of the Act which have been
submitted to and approved by the
(then) Secretary of the Interior or an
authorized agent. The Act allows
exchanges of land for other publicly
or privately-owned lands of equal
value in order to consolidate Home
land holdings or to better serve the
purposes of the Act. The seven
approved exchanges involved 3,021
acres of Home lands for 6,924 acres of
other public or private lands. The
last such exchange was approved by the
Secretary of the Interior on
386

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 exchange proposals was taking time
 because of other priority workload
-considerations* And, according to the
+considerations. And, according to the
 current Chairman, this exchange
 proposal has been withdrawn by DHHL
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 from delivery of the irrigation
 water.
 The irrigation system was designed
 to serve the Lalamilo farm lots area
@@ Line 54: / Line 55: @@
 lands under an easement covered by GEO
 .
 Until recently, homestead farms in
 the Puukapu area were served only by
@@ Line 73: / Line 75: @@
 not connected to the system at that
 time.
 We conclude that, unless the
 Commission and the State of Hawaii
@@ Line 82: / Line 85: @@
 exchange for Home lands that have been
 withdrawn for public use.
 Land Exchanges
 There have been seven exchanges of
 land under the provisions of Section
@@ Line 99: / Line 104: @@
 last such exchange was approved by the
 Secretary of the Interior on
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Reid Ginoza at 19:22, 4 June 2006

Reid Ginoza at 22:53, 10 March 2006