The South Maui Save the Wetlands Hui would like to add the following comments:
To discover and define wetland maps:
• A review of various online information in the public domain,
• A review of Maps diagrams from the Drainage master plans, and Watershed reports and management plans.
• Historical aerial imagery analysis, and comparison with contemporary satellite imagery and aerial imagery, to see hydrology, flooding, surface water, and vegetation.
• On site visits by various experts.
• Inclusion of local knowledge from the community, historical information and experience.
Intensions of this bill:
This bill is intended primarily to protect remaining wetlands on "vacant lots/lands.
It is not intended to affect existing developments /improvements on wetlands.
Some TMK sites may already be partially developed, but have some wetland on part of a site. This bill would only affect the undeveloped portion of the land.
Provide room for wetlands to expand during flood, and to allow wetlands to migrate.
We would like to include protection for “flow through” systems, and Ephemeral streams.
To create an expanded definition of wetlands for Maui County to include all the various types of wetlands.
Compatible Uses:
Compatible uses or allowed uses might include non-destructive uses, such as agriculture where it already exists. For example, Yee’s Orchard is a wetland and a working orchard. This use should be allowed to continue under this bill, but grading or changing the use to housing for example should not be allowed.
Existing Infrastructure such as power, sewerage stormwater, culverts, roads, and sidewalks, would be allowed to remain and to be maintained.
Open spaces such as parks would be allowed to remain as parks, as long as no grading,, or drainage improvements were made without a permit. Some requirements for parks in wetlands might include the use of non-toxic herbicides and pesticides, etc.
Wetland Characteristics:
Wetland Characteristics that can be observed, include vegetation types and condition of vegetation, salt deposits, soil types, streambeds, drainage markings from surface water flow and previous flood heights, visible surface water, proximity to other wetlands, contiguous elevations with known wetlands, Subsurface water level observations from site visits, the context of sites within watershed nexus, observations of flooding from various photos and videos, etc.
I am writing to support the preservation of Maui’s endangered wetlands. Wetlands are a critical component of Maui’s ecosystem. It is vital that we preserve our remaining streams and wetlands, and even restore the ones that have already been damaged by uncontrolled and irresponsible growth. Please support this measure for the sake of Maui’s future and the continued well being of human and non-human life on Maui. Even If you only care about tourism, development and economic growth there is reason to protect our wetlands. Tourists come here to enjoy the beaches and scenic beauty. If you allow it to be destroyed, we will simply become another concrete jungle like Waikiki.
Aloha,
Joy Kaaz
Kihei resident
Hawaiian Wetlands are endangered which means our city infrastructure within the original 210 acres of South Maui Wetlands is at risk for serious potential flooding. As the weather continues to change and strom strength continues to, flooding is a factor in our future of Kihei that cannot be ignored. I was born and raised on the island of Maui and it is absolutely devastating to watch as the years go by and Kihei remains to be the fastest growing city in the State of Hawaii. Responsibility for preserving and protecting streams and gulchs seems to have been breached. I can drive down south kihei road and watch developers remove ancient streambed rocks that can never be replaced and those features to our island is what keeps the current infrastructure i.e. neighborhoods safe. When we remove the water’s natural streamlines in turn beaches and reefs have been detrimentally affected by the flooding which leads to the killing of so much shoreline marine life. Parks and shopping centers, parking lots within the wetlands are in danger. Sea levels are rising and our wet season is only going to get wetter. Watching developers on Maui have no consideration about the fragility of our island’s one-of-a-kind ecosystem is more than disappointing. When I am in the middle of kihei and I study the grounds within the wetlands, I find water almost instantly on a hot summer day. I can still remember the days when the ponds were in much better condition and kids could fish along the sides of the ponds. The importance of Hawaiian Wetlands is unspeakable. These wetlands are what keep our island community safter and the natural features surrounding all streamlines and gulches should be harnessed and preserved for the saftey of our future. Because more than 50% of South Maui's Hawaiian Wetlands have beeen lost since aprox 1963 it has never more important to act collectivly. To protect and preserve endangered hawaiian wetlands is to protect the saftey of everyone residing in South Maui.
Wetlands role in protecting beaches:
Coastal wetlands in Maui play a critical role in protecting beaches and other valuable near-shore natural resources by providing a number of important ecosystem services, including regulating and attenuating sediment flow in nearshore waters, creating a nutrient sink that prevents nitrogen and phosphorous pollution from entering the ocean and harming coral reefs, provisioning of habitat for indigenous and endemic Hawaiian waterbirds, providing for groundwater aquifer recharge, and flood mitigation.
Wetlands play a significant role in the lives of the Hawaiian people (Kanaka Maoli), as both the domain of aumakua (particularly Kihawahine in the South Maui area), and the establishment of landscapes that serve important economic, social, and ritual purposes, such as lo’i kalo (taro patches), and loko i`a (fishponds).
We need wetlands as part of our drainage infrastructure, to help handle stormwater runoff:
Stormwater from flash flooding can create nuisance flooding. Ponding on roadways can disrupt the transport infrastructure. Flooding and stormwater runoff are natural events, so open space such as gulches and wetlands must be preserved to give the water somewhere to go. If you remove the wetlands the water will flow into homes, roads, and the ocean.
We need a broader definition for wetlands:
Many types of Wetlands are not currently designated and have very few protections. Maui has a wide variety of wetlands that provide important functions. Many of these wetlands are degraded or have been disturbed. Many of our remaining wetlands have had some partial destruction from modifications such as, drainage ditches, removal of vegetation, or loss of wildlife, so that they may not currently meet all the specific criteria of the narrow definitions for wetlands. However many of these temporarily degraded wetlands could easily be restored to meet the criteria of the more narrow wetlands definitions. Maui needs to create its own set of wetland definitions that include all of our types of wetlands so that degraded and stressed wetlands will also be preserved, and ultimately restored.
The majority of Maui’s wetlands are on private property.
Many wetlands consist of several TMK parcels, often with multiple land owners. One of the challenges in wetland protection is seeing the whole picture and not treating each individual parcel as a separate issue. The collective system must be protected, and the cumulative effects of development must be properly considered.
Wetlands role in Climate Change:
In the face of climate change and sea-level rise the wetlands provide important protection of land and water. Unfortunately, for well over a century, wetlands have been filled in, cut up, and disconnected resulting in these vital ecosystem services being lost to development. We need to preserve wetlands and open space. We need to create buffer zones around wetlands so that they can expand and migrate. Sea Level Rise will also bring rising water tables that will cause wetlands to migrate shoreward and upward. Our gulches, and streambeds are all part of the wetland and watershed infrastructure, and these are places where future wetlands will likely appear.
Saving the remaining Wetlands:
The importance of protecting, restoring, and expanding, Maui’s remaining wetland ecosystems cannot be overemphasized. We need a County-wide program has to assess, identify, and prioritize the remaining wetlands for restoration. We also need a program to work with landowners to protect wetlands on their property, and seek to link wetlands into a corridor that functions as an interconnected ecological system for the mutual benefit of the County. We need to protect the wetlands from destruction and development. If we do not act now, there will be few ecologically viable wetlands left within the coming decade.
We should be thinking about how to restore the wetlands, haven't we gone far enough.
**We need the TOP 10+ Bullet Points for this Bill.
** 1) This bill does not go far enough to protect our wetlands on Maui.
2) We need a county-specific definition of Wetlands, as recommended for specific areas. that do not fit standard definitions.
3) Wetlands Must be protected and NOT developed.
4) Wetlands are absolutely vital part of the watershed.
5) COunty needs an EA Assessment and County-Wide wetlands Study, and Inventory, similar to the South Maui Save the wetlands Study (not finalized).
6) FInal determination of Wetlands needs to be determined by An appointed "Wetlands Committee" (not just the Planning director).
7)Wetlands Committee must consist of Watershed experts, as well as Environmental Groups and Ahupua'a Stakeholders, and Cultural Representatives. Wetlands need the oversight of the "watershed konohiki".
8) The burden of proof needs to be on any developer to prove no harm to watershed or wetland functions.
9) Who is going to prepare "the Map"?, it should be Wetland Experts and Watershed professionals, (*Note they could get Michael Reyas to do it, and it will be BAD).
10) A Map seems like a BAD Idea, A broad Definition would be Better, with eth Onus of proving no degeneration of Wetland Services.
11) Maybe we should Protect ANY piece of land that Provides "Wetland Services" instead of just protecting "Wetlands". If we protected "Wetland Services" and "Wetland Functions", that would Include all Gulches, Streams, Floodways AND Wetlands.
My name is Robert Aldrich. I have lived full-time in Maui County for 13 years – six years on Moloka’i and seven years on Maui.
I previously worked for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife for 20 years, five years of which included working with biologists to protect five northern California wetlands: Laguna de Santa Rosa Preserve, the San Francisco Estuary, the Napa-Sonoma Wildlife Area, the Petaluma Wetlands, Grizzly Island Wildlife Area.
I strongly support the preservation, protection & restoration of Maui County wetlands. They are distinct ecosystems. One of the most important services that wetlands provide is the inherent capacity to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of climate change by sequestering large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere, which may have been accumulating for hundreds to thousands of years. The loss or degradation of a wetland means not only the demise of that particular carbon sink, but also that the carbon stored in that wetland will be released.
Too many wetlands in Maui County have been destroyed to make way for businesses, yet more wetlands are being planned for development. We have a wetland emergency. They need preserved and restored. In my professional opinion, they are more precious than market values or commercial profits.
Maui County not only needs to approve an ordinance to preserve, protect, & restore all wetlands, but also adopt its own wetland definitions and framework because:
1. The State of Hawaii does not have a management plan or a statute to restore & protect wetlands.
2. The Clean Water Act (CWA) might, and has been gutted by changing political climates.
3. Many of our wetlands do not qualify as Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) per the criteria set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
4. Federal case laws (Rapanos v United States, and others) opened the door for the county to regulate wetlands where the wetland has no continuous surface connection to a permanent navigable waterway.
5. The CWA does not have primacy over states re. wetlands - 33 USC section 1251 (b) & (g) recognizes the rights of states to plan the restoration and preservation of land and water resources.
I strongly suggest the following definition, or something similar:
“An area of land having one the three following attributes:
1. At least periodically, the land supports wetland vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions (hydrophytic vegetation);
2. The substrate is saturated or covered by shallow water at some time;
3. The substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil (soil that is saturated or flooded long enough to produce the anaerobic conditions that wetland vegetation requires.
On the subject of shielding wetlands from nearby construction, my experience is that protection buffers and devices around and between wetland resources disturb the natural streamflow, including the functioning wetland. Developers should be prevented from any development in or around wetlands. Wetlands are connected to other watershed features within an ahupua’a and protective devices interfere with that network. The entire drainage area, including such aspects as the floodplain and groundwater, must be considered when estimating drainage impacts on a wetland within the ahupua’a.
The approval/disapproval of proposed wetland-related projects and the development of a wetland management plan must involve coordination with local residents, especially with native tenants of the respective auhpua’a.
The South Maui Save the Wetlands Hui would like to add the following comments:
To discover and define wetland maps:
• A review of various online information in the public domain,
• A review of Maps diagrams from the Drainage master plans, and Watershed reports and management plans.
• Historical aerial imagery analysis, and comparison with contemporary satellite imagery and aerial imagery, to see hydrology, flooding, surface water, and vegetation.
• On site visits by various experts.
• Inclusion of local knowledge from the community, historical information and experience.
Intensions of this bill:
This bill is intended primarily to protect remaining wetlands on "vacant lots/lands.
It is not intended to affect existing developments /improvements on wetlands.
Some TMK sites may already be partially developed, but have some wetland on part of a site. This bill would only affect the undeveloped portion of the land.
Provide room for wetlands to expand during flood, and to allow wetlands to migrate.
We would like to include protection for “flow through” systems, and Ephemeral streams.
To create an expanded definition of wetlands for Maui County to include all the various types of wetlands.
Compatible Uses:
Compatible uses or allowed uses might include non-destructive uses, such as agriculture where it already exists. For example, Yee’s Orchard is a wetland and a working orchard. This use should be allowed to continue under this bill, but grading or changing the use to housing for example should not be allowed.
Existing Infrastructure such as power, sewerage stormwater, culverts, roads, and sidewalks, would be allowed to remain and to be maintained.
Open spaces such as parks would be allowed to remain as parks, as long as no grading,, or drainage improvements were made without a permit. Some requirements for parks in wetlands might include the use of non-toxic herbicides and pesticides, etc.
Wetland Characteristics:
Wetland Characteristics that can be observed, include vegetation types and condition of vegetation, salt deposits, soil types, streambeds, drainage markings from surface water flow and previous flood heights, visible surface water, proximity to other wetlands, contiguous elevations with known wetlands, Subsurface water level observations from site visits, the context of sites within watershed nexus, observations of flooding from various photos and videos, etc.
Mahalo.
I am writing to support the preservation of Maui’s endangered wetlands. Wetlands are a critical component of Maui’s ecosystem. It is vital that we preserve our remaining streams and wetlands, and even restore the ones that have already been damaged by uncontrolled and irresponsible growth. Please support this measure for the sake of Maui’s future and the continued well being of human and non-human life on Maui. Even If you only care about tourism, development and economic growth there is reason to protect our wetlands. Tourists come here to enjoy the beaches and scenic beauty. If you allow it to be destroyed, we will simply become another concrete jungle like Waikiki.
Aloha,
Joy Kaaz
Kihei resident
Hawaiian Wetlands are endangered which means our city infrastructure within the original 210 acres of South Maui Wetlands is at risk for serious potential flooding. As the weather continues to change and strom strength continues to, flooding is a factor in our future of Kihei that cannot be ignored. I was born and raised on the island of Maui and it is absolutely devastating to watch as the years go by and Kihei remains to be the fastest growing city in the State of Hawaii. Responsibility for preserving and protecting streams and gulchs seems to have been breached. I can drive down south kihei road and watch developers remove ancient streambed rocks that can never be replaced and those features to our island is what keeps the current infrastructure i.e. neighborhoods safe. When we remove the water’s natural streamlines in turn beaches and reefs have been detrimentally affected by the flooding which leads to the killing of so much shoreline marine life. Parks and shopping centers, parking lots within the wetlands are in danger. Sea levels are rising and our wet season is only going to get wetter. Watching developers on Maui have no consideration about the fragility of our island’s one-of-a-kind ecosystem is more than disappointing. When I am in the middle of kihei and I study the grounds within the wetlands, I find water almost instantly on a hot summer day. I can still remember the days when the ponds were in much better condition and kids could fish along the sides of the ponds. The importance of Hawaiian Wetlands is unspeakable. These wetlands are what keep our island community safter and the natural features surrounding all streamlines and gulches should be harnessed and preserved for the saftey of our future. Because more than 50% of South Maui's Hawaiian Wetlands have beeen lost since aprox 1963 it has never more important to act collectivly. To protect and preserve endangered hawaiian wetlands is to protect the saftey of everyone residing in South Maui.
CARE-55 CC 21-358 WETLANDS RESTORATION (CARE-55)
Wetlands role in protecting beaches:
Coastal wetlands in Maui play a critical role in protecting beaches and other valuable near-shore natural resources by providing a number of important ecosystem services, including regulating and attenuating sediment flow in nearshore waters, creating a nutrient sink that prevents nitrogen and phosphorous pollution from entering the ocean and harming coral reefs, provisioning of habitat for indigenous and endemic Hawaiian waterbirds, providing for groundwater aquifer recharge, and flood mitigation.
Wetlands play a significant role in the lives of the Hawaiian people (Kanaka Maoli), as both the domain of aumakua (particularly Kihawahine in the South Maui area), and the establishment of landscapes that serve important economic, social, and ritual purposes, such as lo’i kalo (taro patches), and loko i`a (fishponds).
We need wetlands as part of our drainage infrastructure, to help handle stormwater runoff:
Stormwater from flash flooding can create nuisance flooding. Ponding on roadways can disrupt the transport infrastructure. Flooding and stormwater runoff are natural events, so open space such as gulches and wetlands must be preserved to give the water somewhere to go. If you remove the wetlands the water will flow into homes, roads, and the ocean.
We need a broader definition for wetlands:
Many types of Wetlands are not currently designated and have very few protections. Maui has a wide variety of wetlands that provide important functions. Many of these wetlands are degraded or have been disturbed. Many of our remaining wetlands have had some partial destruction from modifications such as, drainage ditches, removal of vegetation, or loss of wildlife, so that they may not currently meet all the specific criteria of the narrow definitions for wetlands. However many of these temporarily degraded wetlands could easily be restored to meet the criteria of the more narrow wetlands definitions. Maui needs to create its own set of wetland definitions that include all of our types of wetlands so that degraded and stressed wetlands will also be preserved, and ultimately restored.
The majority of Maui’s wetlands are on private property.
Many wetlands consist of several TMK parcels, often with multiple land owners. One of the challenges in wetland protection is seeing the whole picture and not treating each individual parcel as a separate issue. The collective system must be protected, and the cumulative effects of development must be properly considered.
Wetlands role in Climate Change:
In the face of climate change and sea-level rise the wetlands provide important protection of land and water. Unfortunately, for well over a century, wetlands have been filled in, cut up, and disconnected resulting in these vital ecosystem services being lost to development. We need to preserve wetlands and open space. We need to create buffer zones around wetlands so that they can expand and migrate. Sea Level Rise will also bring rising water tables that will cause wetlands to migrate shoreward and upward. Our gulches, and streambeds are all part of the wetland and watershed infrastructure, and these are places where future wetlands will likely appear.
Saving the remaining Wetlands:
The importance of protecting, restoring, and expanding, Maui’s remaining wetland ecosystems cannot be overemphasized. We need a County-wide program has to assess, identify, and prioritize the remaining wetlands for restoration. We also need a program to work with landowners to protect wetlands on their property, and seek to link wetlands into a corridor that functions as an interconnected ecological system for the mutual benefit of the County. We need to protect the wetlands from destruction and development. If we do not act now, there will be few ecologically viable wetlands left within the coming decade.
Mahalo,
David Dorn
We should be thinking about how to restore the wetlands, haven't we gone far enough.
**We need the TOP 10+ Bullet Points for this Bill.
** 1) This bill does not go far enough to protect our wetlands on Maui.
2) We need a county-specific definition of Wetlands, as recommended for specific areas. that do not fit standard definitions.
3) Wetlands Must be protected and NOT developed.
4) Wetlands are absolutely vital part of the watershed.
5) COunty needs an EA Assessment and County-Wide wetlands Study, and Inventory, similar to the South Maui Save the wetlands Study (not finalized).
6) FInal determination of Wetlands needs to be determined by An appointed "Wetlands Committee" (not just the Planning director).
7)Wetlands Committee must consist of Watershed experts, as well as Environmental Groups and Ahupua'a Stakeholders, and Cultural Representatives. Wetlands need the oversight of the "watershed konohiki".
8) The burden of proof needs to be on any developer to prove no harm to watershed or wetland functions.
9) Who is going to prepare "the Map"?, it should be Wetland Experts and Watershed professionals, (*Note they could get Michael Reyas to do it, and it will be BAD).
10) A Map seems like a BAD Idea, A broad Definition would be Better, with eth Onus of proving no degeneration of Wetland Services.
11) Maybe we should Protect ANY piece of land that Provides "Wetland Services" instead of just protecting "Wetlands". If we protected "Wetland Services" and "Wetland Functions", that would Include all Gulches, Streams, Floodways AND Wetlands.
Testifying on behalf of the South Maui Save the Wetlands Hui. Please see attached comments on the proposed bill
My name is Robert Aldrich. I have lived full-time in Maui County for 13 years – six years on Moloka’i and seven years on Maui.
I previously worked for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife for 20 years, five years of which included working with biologists to protect five northern California wetlands: Laguna de Santa Rosa Preserve, the San Francisco Estuary, the Napa-Sonoma Wildlife Area, the Petaluma Wetlands, Grizzly Island Wildlife Area.
I strongly support the preservation, protection & restoration of Maui County wetlands. They are distinct ecosystems. One of the most important services that wetlands provide is the inherent capacity to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of climate change by sequestering large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere, which may have been accumulating for hundreds to thousands of years. The loss or degradation of a wetland means not only the demise of that particular carbon sink, but also that the carbon stored in that wetland will be released.
Too many wetlands in Maui County have been destroyed to make way for businesses, yet more wetlands are being planned for development. We have a wetland emergency. They need preserved and restored. In my professional opinion, they are more precious than market values or commercial profits.
Maui County not only needs to approve an ordinance to preserve, protect, & restore all wetlands, but also adopt its own wetland definitions and framework because:
1. The State of Hawaii does not have a management plan or a statute to restore & protect wetlands.
2. The Clean Water Act (CWA) might, and has been gutted by changing political climates.
3. Many of our wetlands do not qualify as Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) per the criteria set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
4. Federal case laws (Rapanos v United States, and others) opened the door for the county to regulate wetlands where the wetland has no continuous surface connection to a permanent navigable waterway.
5. The CWA does not have primacy over states re. wetlands - 33 USC section 1251 (b) & (g) recognizes the rights of states to plan the restoration and preservation of land and water resources.
I strongly suggest the following definition, or something similar:
“An area of land having one the three following attributes:
1. At least periodically, the land supports wetland vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions (hydrophytic vegetation);
2. The substrate is saturated or covered by shallow water at some time;
3. The substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil (soil that is saturated or flooded long enough to produce the anaerobic conditions that wetland vegetation requires.
On the subject of shielding wetlands from nearby construction, my experience is that protection buffers and devices around and between wetland resources disturb the natural streamflow, including the functioning wetland. Developers should be prevented from any development in or around wetlands. Wetlands are connected to other watershed features within an ahupua’a and protective devices interfere with that network. The entire drainage area, including such aspects as the floodplain and groundwater, must be considered when estimating drainage impacts on a wetland within the ahupua’a.
The approval/disapproval of proposed wetland-related projects and the development of a wetland management plan must involve coordination with local residents, especially with native tenants of the respective auhpua’a.