STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1439

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 34

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land, to which was referred S.R. No. 34 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAI‘I CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION COMMISSION AND THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I TO COLLABORATE TO IDENTIFY SEA LEVEL RISE AT KAHALU‘U BAY AND JOINTLY PURSUE A MASTER PLAN TO RELOCATE THE PAVILION AT KAHALU‘U BAY, HAWAII,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission and the County of Hawaii to collaborate to identify sea level rise at Kahaluu Bay and jointly pursue a master plan to relocate the pavilion at Kahaluu Bay, Hawaii.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the County of Hawaii – Office of the Mayor, The Kohala Center, and one individual.

Your Committees find that Kahaluu Bay is a historic and traditional cultural gathering site for native Hawaiians and is a prime source of fishing, gathering, and surfing. The current pavilion at Kahaluu Bay is perceived as the focal gathering point of the Kahaluu Beach Park. However, Kahaluu Bay is in the potential area of chronic flooding with five feet of sea level rise in Kailua-Kona. In 2008, the Kahaluu Beach Park Conceptual Master Plan recommended the relocation of the pavilion back from the shoreline to protect the structure from damage that may occur from sea level rise and storm surges. Additionally, the terrestrial areas and park facilities are eroding from storm surges and sea level rise, while the marine life is threatened by human interaction through trampling, sunscreen exposure, runoff, overfishing and waste disposal, as well as by ocean acidification, ocean heating, and other climate change effects.

Currently, the Kahaluu Bay Education Center, a program of The Kohala Center, is working in collaboration with Hawaii County and Sea Engineering LLC to undertake a coastal assessment and hazards analysis of Kahaluu Bay that considers how ocean trends will affect the nearshore environment in the face of climate change, which will further provide a basis for a community-informed master plan for terrestrial restoration and park development can be examined. Therefore, your Committees find that it is necessary to relocate the pavilion to avoid further deterioration from sea level rise and storm surges.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 34, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 34, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Water and Land,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair