Would the Kohala Ditch be better off under state control?
State Sen. Lorraine Inouye thinks so. The District 4 Democrat has placed $1.5 million into the state’s budget for capital improvement projects to study a state purchase of the 14.5-mile irrigation system.
The ditch is managed and partially owned by landholders Surety Kohala Corp. But the waterway courses through a number of properties which have at least a stake and quite likely ownership in the ditch, including land owned by Kamehameha Schools, the State of Hawaii and Florida-based Morrison Grove Capital Advisors.
Inouye sees a lot of risk in the current ownership structure, which includes the mainland investment company that she says could easily sell assets to unknown future owners. Far safer and better for the future of diversified agriculture in Kohala is to let the state take the reins, she said in an interview this week.
“The system is so important. We need to preserve one of the last ditches in the state that is not under state control,” she said. “I believe the state could do a better job, contrary to what is being said by those who oppose state control.”
In a Senate Concurrent Resolution that died on the way to agriculture and water and land committees in late March, Inouye called on the state Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to develop a plan for the purchase. Along the way, the agencies should work with private land owners, the ditch’s two dozen users, and the Kohala Ditch Foundation to craft a long-term plan to make the ditch sustainable, according to the resolution.
Bill Shontell, executive vice president of Surety, opposes state control of the ditch, and his opposition is part of the reason the bill was quashed. The ambiguity in the control of the ditch is part of the reason Shontell is working to form a user co-op that will locally control the water. He believes the ditch should be placed in the hands of the water users and the newly formed kayak tour company Flumin’ Kohala, which would put tour revenue back into upkeep.
The ditch is frequently knocked out of commission by landslides and flume collapses, and local control would be more quickly responsive to the needs of the ditch, he said.
The ditch has been called a lifeline to North Kohala agriculture, bringing at normal capacity some 10 million gallons a day to a dairy farm, ranches, nurseries, a turf farm, a power generation project and other endeavors.
The Kohala Ditch Foundation, created in 2010 to shape the future of the legacy project, said in testimony that the volunteer organization will entertain any conversation about the ditch’s future. The Aha Moku Advisory Committee within DLNR supports Inouye’s efforts.
“The progression of different private land owners throughout the years have caused great stress and uncertainty among Native Hawaiian mahiai who depend on their crops to feed their families,” the group wrote in testimony.
