HILO, Hawaii (AP) - The state Department of Agriculture is scaling back a plan to place a portion of a historic ditch in a pipe after several landowners offered to help maintain the open irrigation system through their properties.
The department’s plan aimed to reduce maintenance costs and the effects of erosion on the 26-mile-long Lower Hamakua Ditch irrigation system. But several property owners objected, saying the project would bury or enclose a historic landmark, The Hawaii Tribune-Herald (https://bit.ly/1vCYJgA) reported.
The irrigation system transports water from above Waipio Valley along a series of tunnels and open ditches carved into the hillside to Paauilo. It went into operation in 1910 and was used by the Hamakua Sugar Co.
The state took over the ditch to maintain an irrigation system for area farmers after the company went bankrupt in 1993.
Agriculture Chairman Scott Enright said he agreed to work out a compromise after meeting with the landowners several times.
Their agreement will involve the department and about 12 landowners sharing the burden of maintaining the system on their lands.
The details still need to be worked out, Enright said. One of the main issues is preventing silt from building up in the ditch.
“To the extent the work gets done, and we’re not having the problems with siltation in the ditch . we can make it work,” said Enright, a resident of Ookala on the Hamakua coast. Enright oversaw the ditch system years ago when he worked for the sugar company.
Jim Suggs, whose property on Velez Road hosts roughly 800 feet of the ditch, said the landowners are up for the task.
“This is a historical thing,” he said. “It was a major engineering feat . It’s part of the heritage and culture of this area.”
It is likely the department would still be responsible for repairs to the ditch on the properties, though landowners could help keep storm runoff from entering the system by building and maintaining flumes, Suggs said. They also would likely be responsible for landscaping along its edges.
Piping was initially proposed after a 2004 storm that clogged the ditch and cut off water to users. That plan also faced community opposition and was delayed after federal grant funding was lost.
The ditch currently carries water to about 100 users, Enright said.
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Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/
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