Hawaii First Water

Archives for July 2015

New Water Resource Laws Deal with Water Scalping, Hawaiian Fishponds

By Wendy Osher, Maui Now, July 2015

Governor David Ige signed three bills into law today relating to Water Resource Management that deal with hydroelectric facilities, water scalping and Native Hawaiian fishponds.

During a bill signing ceremony he said, “I think for all of us who live in Hawaiʻi really understand how important a resource clean water is.  These three measures that I’ll be signing will really help us to utilize that water in a way that hopefully is more sustainable, and obviously gives us more options.”

See the rest of the article in Maui Now…

Severe Drought Cripples Maui Ranch

July 2015, Lisa Kubota, MAUI (HawaiiNewsNow) –

The record-setting heat this summer is taking a toll on two Leeward regions already under severe drought. Kaupo Ranch on Maui is in one of those devastated areas.

A total combined head of 1,500 cattle grazed on the southern slopes of Haleakala five years ago. Due to the dry weather, that number has now fallen to 1,300 and will likely continue dropping.

The paniolo heritage at Kaupo Ranch traces back to 1929. When the rain falls, the remote property is blanketed with lush greenery. These days, however, much of the landscape is barren and brown.

“You just go into survival mode and do what you think you can do, prepare,” explained Kaupo Ranch manager Bobby Ferreira. “What I going get rid of? Lighten up as much as you can.”

See the rest of the article on HNN