BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY
County of Maui
Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 24, 2008
9:00 a.m.
Conference Room
Department of Liquor Control
2145 Kaohu Street
Wailuku, HI  96793






I. CALL TO ORDER

Chair Lee Aldridge called the April 24, 2008 Board of Water Supply meeting to 
order at 9:08 a.m.

II. ATTENDANCE

Board Members:			Staff:

Chair Lee Aldridge		Jeffrey K. Eng, Director of Water Supply
Vice Chair Carl Holmberg 	Eric Yamashige, Deputy Director
Marion Haller			Edward Kushi, Jr., Deputy Corporation Counsel
Michael Howden			Herb Chang, staff engineer
Kui Lester			Gaye Hayashida, Commission Support Clerk
Scott Luck
Kelli Myers			Others:
Phyllis Robinson
Ted Yamamura			Madelyn D’Enbeau, Deputy Corporation Counsel
				Paul Mancini, Attorney for the Appellant, Dawn Silva
				Dawn Silva
				Catherine Silva
				Walter Silva
				Holly Perdido
       
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. Introduction of Returning Board Member, Scott Luck and New Board Member, Ted 
Yamamura

Chair Aldridge welcomed returning Board member Scott Luck.  Member Luck stated 
that he was happy to be back and he felt that now he has a base of knowledge to 
start working from this time.

The Chair introduced the newest Board member, Ted Yamamura, who is the vice 
president and senior appraiser of ACM Consultants, Inc. and was a past member of 
the State of Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources.  Member Yamamura stated 
that he is humbled and honored to be on this board.  

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A. Minutes of March 27, 2008

Motion:	By Member Howden to accept the minutes of March 27, 2008 

Second:	By Member Holmberg

Discussion:	None.

Vote:		Unanimous.  Motion carried.

V. TESTIMONY FROM THE PUBLIC

A. None.

VI. APPEALS

A. Appeal 07-01 An appeal by Dawn Silva of the Director’s decision/order dated 
April 16, 2007, denying her request for a water meter for her property located 
at 937 Kokomo Road, tmk (2) 2-7-011-031

Refer to Attorneys’ Submittal of Proposed Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, 
Decision and Order; Oral Closing Arguments on Appeal 07-01, an appeal by Dawn Silva.

VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A. None.

VII. OTHER BUSINESS 

A. Discussion/possible action regarding Proposed Fiscal Year 2009 Budget As It 
Pertains to Revenues – Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes, specifically the Appeal 
Fee

Chair Aldridge stated that Michelle Anderson, Chair of the County Council’s Water 
Resources Committee, had requested the Board’s comments on the proposal to 
establish a $300 filing fee for appeals heard by the Board of Water Supply and 
provide for a filing fee refund in full or in part at the discretion of the Board 
if the appellant prevails.  

Member Howden recommended that the Board return the appeal fee to the appellant 
when they are successful in their appeal.  

Chair Aldridge stated that he believes it is specifically written into this 
proposed bill at this time, “fees for any filing appeal may be refunded if board 
members’ final decision and order authorizing refund in full or in part of filing 
fee.”  He pointed out that they specifically struck out “shall” and put in “may”, 
to leave it to the discretion of the Board.  

Member Haller asked if anybody knows the origin of this and how this came about.  

Director Eng replied that it came about last year ago when the Department was 
preparing the rates and fees for last year’s fiscal year budget.  When the appeal 
ordinance was passed last year, it was too late to incorporate the filing fee in 
last year’s rates and fees.  The Director further stated that the question about 
whether it should be refundable or not, came up in the Water Resources Committee 
meeting.   

Mr. Kushi stated that the Director is correct as to why it is not in effect now.  
But he believes the Council just recently as of last Friday, passed this amendment 
for the Fiscal Year ‘08 Budget, which lasts until the end of June ’08.  What 
Councilmember Anderson is asking for are the Board’s comments for next year’s 
’09 Budget.

Motion:	By Member Robinson to recommend approval of this bill as proposed.

Second:	By Member Haller

Discussion:	The motion was clarified to the Board accepts the wording as proposed 
in the amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget.  The Chair will transmit the 
Board’s recommendation in a letter via the Mayor to the Council’s Water Resources 
Committee.  

	Note:  No vote was taken.  All members were in agreement.  

B. Discussion regarding the Upcountry Water System with a Review of the Systems’ 
Schematics

Chair Aldridge stated that there was some concern that this year we are already 
down to only 88 million gallons.  

Director Eng corrected by saying it was 85 million.  

The Chair recalls that last year at this time we were up over 150 million gallons 
and now we are definitely lower this year.  He is concerned about the operations 
of the Upcountry water systems and why we can’t maintain more water in the 
Kahakapao, Piiholo and Waikamoi reservoirs.  Chair Aldridge asked Director Eng 
to give a background on the systems and why the Department doesn’t pump as much 
water from the Kamole Treatment Plant to the upper systems.  

Director Eng stated that there are different approaches on when to pump.  How 
much does it cost to pump a thousand gallons, a thousand feet in elevation?  It 
is probably well over $2.00 per thousand gallons.  That is what they look at 
when they decide to pump.  Do they want to keep pumping to keep everything full?  
They don’t want to pump to keep things full when it may rain.  Because when does 
rain the water has nowhere to go so it’s just going to overflow and be dumped in 
gulches or into the streams.

Even now it is a tough call.  They’re happy when we get a little bit of rain.  
They want to keep some space for those opportunities when it rains.  

As of yesterday, Piiholo Reservoir only had about 38 million gallons which really 
got their attention.  At around 35 million gallons the Department will probably 
start pumping up and maintain it at that level.  As far as pumping up to the Upper 
Kula system, they will have to monitor that closely but if they are not getting 
any inflow to Waikamoi or Kahakapao then at some point they may start pumping to 
the Upper Kula system.  But they have to be really conscience of the electricity 
costs and how much they want to pass on to the rate payers. 

Chair Aldridge asked if the demands are uniformly split between the Upper, Lower 
and Haiku system.

The Director replied that the biggest demand is off the Lower Kula system.  At 
this time he referred to the last daily Upcountry Water Report.  

Member Haller noted that this is the report the members receive daily by e-mail.

Director Eng explained that if they look at the box on the right, the Demand.  
This is assuming that they are not pumping up from Kamole.   He then directed the 
Board to look at the column marked Olinda.  That is the demand solely for the 
Upper Kula system.  The demand for the Lower Kula system is the column marked 
Piiholo.  The left column, Kamole shows the demand for the Makawao – Pukalani 
system.  The Lower Kula system has the highest demand.

Member Haller asked where does the water go from the Kaupakalua, Haiku and 
Pookela wells?

The Director stated that those are all the Haiku system. 

Chair Aldridge asked where does the water come from for the Piiholo Reservoir.

Director Eng replied that it comes from 7 in-takes which are separate from the 3 
in-takes that serve the Waikamoi reservoirs.

Chair Aldridge stated that when there is good rainfall, the Wailoa Ditch runs very 
high and yet the upper reservoirs seem to run out of water sooner.  It would seem 
that the higher elevation should have more rainwater.

Director Eng stated that for the Kamole sources starts from Nahiku where there 
are a number of in-takes from the EMI system.  It is the probably our best 
collection system.  The next most sufficient source is the Piiholo system because 
of the elevation of the in-takes relative to rainfall and rain related clouds.  
The Olinda/Upper Kula system’s in-takes are actually a little bit above the rain 
producing clouds.  It is just a nature of where the rain clouds form.

Member Howden stated that the Waikamoi flume system does not capture a significant 
amount of water when there is a storm and asked the Director for his comments.  

Director Eng stated that regarding the in-takes, though he hasn’t inspected them 
personally, he believes the one big issue is the Waikamoi flume itself.  It is 
old and does need to be replaced.  In the proposed Fiscal Year ’09 Budget the 
Department has a request for $1.5 million to construct a safety line for the 
Department’s employee to get in there and work safely.  So in Fiscal Year 2010 the 
Department will request money to design a brand new flume and hopefully in Fiscal 
Year 2011 they will be able to construct a brand new flume.

Chair Aldridge asked, where will the Piiholo Well water go.

The Director stated that the Piiholo Well water will first be pumped to a control 
tank mauka of the well and then from that control tank it will be transported to 
the Pookela Tank, which is the hub of the Upcountry system.

Member Robinson asked if there have been any discussion on the use of alternative 
energy to pump the water.  

Director Eng stated that alternative energy sources are still not feasible.  For 
instance, the amount of area you would need for solar panels would be prohibitive.  
He believes that down the road hydrogen fuel cells would be state-of-the-art.  
As far as the County as a whole, he is not sure what they are looking at right 
now, though he wishes that the County’s energy coordinator would pay more attention 
to the Department because they are Maui Electric’s largest customer and the 
Department’s staff doesn’t have time to explore these alternative energy sources.

Chair Aldridge asked what is the pumping horsepower (hp) at Kamole Weir Treatment 
Plant as in pumping to the Pookela Tank.

Director Eng stated the largest one they have is 700 hp.  

Chair Aldridge noted that every 10 square feet collects about 1 kilowatt (kw) of 
solar energy.  To simplify things if you figure 700 hp equals 750 kw then, to get 
750 kw you would need 7,500 square feet of photo-voltaic cells at a 100% 
convergence for just one pump during the day.  So it is easier said than done, 
unfortunately.

Member Howden suggested hydro-electric and micro-generation.  

Director Eng stated that for hydro-electric, we need to drop water down to produce 
electricity and we will never have enough water to drop down to match what we 
would be pumping up.

Member Howden had questions regarding the Piiholo Well agreement but Chair Aldridge 
said that this will be an agenda item at another meeting and asked Member Howden 
to wait until then.  

Member Howden asked if at that time, the Department could provide a map of the 
tax map keys where this water is meant to go and also a clarification on the 
actual discussions and negotiations and what the facts are.  

Member Haller stated that we made this agreement and there is not much we can do 
but learn from it and go forward.  She asked if another sweetheart deal like this 
could ever happen again.

Director Eng stated that there is now an ordinance in which the Council has to 
approve any new source agreements.  So now there are opportunities for the public 
to get involved in these agreements.

Chair Aldridge asked if the Director has any idea of how many people on the 
Upcountry list are on the Lower or Upper Kula system versus the Haiku system.  

Director Eng replied that he doesn’t have the exact number, though he did look at 
the first hundred on the list to see how many were on the Upper Kula system.  Out 
of the hundred there were less then 10 that the Department was obligated to 
provide meters for the Upper Kula system.

Chair Aldridge stated that the problem is improving the collection and storage of 
water in both the Lower and Upper Kula area.

The Director stated that they are getting a lot of support for this large Upcountry 
reservoir that will be situated on the Lower Kula system.    

Member Howden asked if it would make sense to reconfigure the Upcountry list so 
that it accurately reflected where people are applying for meters.  

Director Eng replied that it might be a legal question and asked Mr. Kushi for 
his opinion, but added that to reconfigure the list might make people on the list 
very angry so this is something he has no interest in doing.  

Mr. Kushi answered that first of all you need to change the rule.  The rule is 
what it is and it still exists in terms of a priority list which is not separated 
into these 3 systems.  That rule is before the Council right now and they have 
been warned that if they change the list they would have a lot of angry people.  
For example if someone was number 52 now then after the list is reconfigured 
they may become number 352.  The Council also looked at priority for what type 
of project is on the list and that is worse; small parcels versus family 
subdivision versus commercial properties.  

At the time the Board established this list it was first come first serve.  Now 
if you want to re-establish that list you will get into an argument that Attorney 
Mancini just tried to tell you folks.  The office of Corporation Counsel will be 
skeptical in advising this Board, the Department or the Council in touching that 
list.  

Chair Aldridge asked what will be the capacity of the proposed reservoir.  

Director Eng stated that it will be up to 300 million gallon but it could also 
be two separate 150 million gallon reservoirs.  Based on estimated growth and 
demand for Upcountry this size can meet any severe drought period.

Chair Aldridge asked if this would be sufficient to issue meters to the people on 
the Upcountry Priority List.

Director Eng stated that we have to look at groundwater sources even with a large 
reservoir because we would still be depending on rain.  The future would be to 
have a dependable system that has more groundwater.

Member Haller asked what is the capacity of the Upcountry wells?

The Director stated that Kaupakalua and Haiku wells serve Haiku only.  Kaupakalua 
Well has been operating at about .8 to .9 million gallons per day (mgd).  The 
Haiku Well is at .3 to .4 mgd.  The Pookela Well has a maximum pumping capacity 
of 1.3 mgd but remains only a back-up.   

C. Discussion/possible action on the Central Maui Water System and West Maui Water 
Availability

Director Eng stated that for both the Central and West Maui System, the Department 
is still monitoring the demand.  The Department has asked for conservation and has 
gotten some positive results.  The Water Department is doing the best it can as 
far as looking for new sources for Central Maui and is currently focusing on 
developing a new groundwater source in the Waikapu Aquifer.

The Department has money in the proposed ’09 budget to develop a new groundwater 
source and is currently trying to find some available sites in West Maui.

D. Update on the Decision and Order of the Appeal by Joseph and Cheryl Medeiros

Chair Aldridge stated he met with the Director and Department staff with Corporation 
Counsel present.  During that meeting they resolved any ambiguities in the Board’s 
decision.  So now the Department will be contacting the Medeiros’ to discuss the 
Board’s decision.  

E. Receipt of Board Member request for agenda items to be placed on future agendas

1. Discussion on the Piiholo Well Agreement

2. Discussion on what happens with the Board’s recommendation and resolutions and 
whether the Department acts on them.  For possible executive session.

3. Discussion on what it will take to finally serve water to all on the Upcountry 
Priority List

4. Discussion on water for Wailea 670

IX. COMMUNICATIONS

A. Resolution 1 (2009 regarding Kenneth M. Okamura’s Five Years of Faithful Service 
as Approved by the Board Members on March 27, 2008.

B. Resolution 2 (2008) regarding the Board’s Proposed Water Conservation Plan as 
Approved by the Board Members on March 27, 2008.

These two items were for the Board members’ information only. 

X. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

A. None.

XI. DIVISION REPORTS

Since there were no discussions on the Division Reports, Chair Aldridge asked 
for a lunch recess and when the meeting resumes, the Board will deliberate on 
Appeal No. 07-01, an appeal by Dawn Silva.

Refer to Deliberations on Appeal 07-01, an appeal by Dawn Silva.
  
XII. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further discussion, Chair Aldridge adjourned the April 24, 2008 
Board of Water Supply meeting at 12:50 p.m.



					Prepared and submitted by:



					__________________________________
					Gaye Hayashida
					Commission Support Clerk


Approved on: _____________________