Anyone planning to build a commercial or industrial project in Ocean View has a serious problem on their hands.
The lack of a second well in the area means there is no redundancy in the water supply, meaning businesses and homes wouldn’t be able to hook up to the single, limited well that serves the region even if a transmission system were built. Residents either drive to the spigots or collect rain from their roofs.
In a fire-prone region, Hawaii County firefighters have few options for drawing water to battle blazes in the sprawling, underserved area.
It looks like it might stay that way for a long time. And the limitation could severely hamper the development of a community that expressed a desire to grow and add a school and stores.
Some residents blame a lethargic county administration that was so slow at completing the first well that a legislative probe was launched to delve into the delay. But this time, it appears basic questions about water capacity might be setting the highest hurdle.
Pumping from the existing well has been capped at 100 gallons per minute. Pump more than that amount and chlorides in the water increase sharply, said Kurt Inaba, engineering division chief with the county Department of Water Supply. The limitation in the aquifer presents a challenge to anyone planning to drill another well close enough to the first one that a system of interconnectivity can be developed at a reasonable cost.
It’s unlikely the county will sink $9 million into a well system that quickly draws salty water.
“It wouldn’t be something where we would look at building a new well if we can’t increase capacity,” Inaba said.
DWS is consulting with the state Commission on Water Resource Management on the reservoir’s capacity and the ramifications of a new well. There are other hurdles, including a lack of three-phase power needed for the pump.
So, a new well for Ocean View is not on the department’s list of future projects.
The fact that Naalehu Rep. Richard Creagan was able to obtain a $725,000 appropriation for land purchase, well design and engineering in 2014 hasn’t helped move the project along. In fact, that money is sitting and is in danger of lapsing.
The years of delay have frustrated Brenda Ford. The former South Kona councilwoman struggled to get Department of Defense trainees in the Innovative Readiness Training program to set up on the Big Island and provide free labor for the well drilling, which she estimates could have cut the project cost in half. It also would have put architects and engineers and other professionals at the county’s fingertips for free work on other projects, she claims.
But IRT required two projects to work on before it would consider doing the free labor. One was the well, and a second was a project with the county Department of Parks and Recreation, Ford said. She faults the administration for lack of follow-through on the paperwork.
“The county would not issue the contracts per the requirement,” Ford said. “I did everything I could possibly do.”
Several years ago, Ford and DWS scouted potential well sites about 5 miles from the existing one and found a half-dozen cheap parcels that could fit the bill. Then, term-limited Ford was out of office and the idea of using the IRT to drill a well got lost in the shuffle.
Ocean View’s current councilor Maile David met with DWS in July to discuss the well, and at the time was waiting for word from CWRM. The need for a second well is there, but the state water commission is the expert on whether the water quality will be good enough to justify the project, she said.
“If the quality is not up to par, we are going to be spending a lot of money on something that’s not going to be beneficial,” David said.
Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com.
