Water Issues Flood Planning Commission

Proposed developments march on, with or without water.
By Brandon Roberts

“This is not pono for Molokai” concerned citizen Kauwila Hanchett said. “This document will never be acceptable to the Molokai community.”
Hanchett requested a 30 day extension to the public review timeframe. She also emphasized that the previous La’au EIS, which was rejected, was available in Word and PDF. This made it more user-friendly. The new EIS is only in PDF format.

Lori Buchanan's mana'o

The MoPC sent a formal letter to MPL submitting these community requests and asking for additional copies to be made available to the public. Currently there is only one public copy at the library.
Last January a similar EIS comment deadline extension was submitted by the MoPC. MPL general manager John Sabas said at that time, “(the project) is extremely important to the people of Molokai and we want to ensure there is sufficient time for … review.”
With a deteriorating water infrastructure and the recent Hawaii Supreme Court ruling on Well 17, MPL has many Molokai residents wondering “how can this development continue with no water?” The Supreme Court overturned a decision to grant a water permit to MPL, which draws 1 million gallons of water a day from well 17. The MoPC has tentatively scheduled its next meeting for Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. If the 30 day public review extension is denied then Feb. 13 will be the last time for MoPC to hear public testimony on the La’au EIS.