A measure aiming to improve the integrity and safety of dams and spillways in the state is advancing at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol. HPR's Casey Harlow has more.
Dole Fined $20,000 For Significant Safety Risks Posed By Wahiawa Dam - Honolulu Civil Beat
Dole Fined $20,000 For ‘Significant’ Safety Risks Posed By Wahiawa Dam
The fine was among the first enforcements against local dam owners since the Kaupakalua dam overflowed, prompting evacuations on Maui. Reading time: 5 minutes.
The state’s land board fined Dole Food Company Hawaii $20,000 on Friday for failing to safely maintain the Wahiawa dam, which protects Oahu’s North Shore from flooding by Lake Wilson.
The more than century-old dam presents a “significant risk to the public today” and Dole has known of that risk for at least 12 years, Carty Chang, the state land agency’s chief engineer, told the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
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Mar 11, 2021
Mark Vaught of East Maui Irrigation Co. (from right), Shan Tsutsui of Mahi Pono and Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino visit the Kaupakalua Dam in Haiku on Tuesday following massive flooding. DLNR photos
The Maui News
State engineers and the owners of the Kaupakalua Dam won’t be able to fully assess the damage to the structure until flooding subsides and the reservoir empties out, the Department of Land and Natural Resources said Wednesday.
Officials visited the dam on Tuesday, a day after torrential rains overflowed the dam, flooded roads and washed away bridges and homes.
“This dam is old, and we require it to stay dry, so that any water coming down the stream normally just washes through,” DLNR Chairwoman Suzanne Case said. “With more than 14 inches of rain in a very short period of time, the reservoir just filled up, and overtopped the dam and sent water rushing down the spillway. It will take awhile for all of that water to flow out.”