Kaua’i County hopes to get its share of $450,000 in federal funds for exploratory well drilling by the county Water Department. The funding would strengthen the reliability of the water system and identify new underground wells for when they’re needed,
Kaua’i County hopes to get its share of $450,000 in federal funds for
exploratory well drilling by the county Water Department.
The funding would
strengthen the reliability of the water system and identify new underground
wells for when they’re needed, officials said.
The $450,000, to be shared
by Kaua’i, Big Island and Maui counties, is part of $52 million the
House-Senate Conference Committee has approved for numerous public projects in
Hawai’i, including the establishment of emergency ambulance service at the
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, preservation of World War II-era internment
camps for Japanese-Americans, and funding the operation of the American Samoa
government and its public improvement projects.
Before the funds are
released, including those to Kaua’i, the proposal must be approved by Congress
and President Clinton.
How much would be set aside for Kaua’i has not been
determined, according to Sandi Skousen, press secretary for Sen. Daniel
Inouye (D-Hawai’i).
For the counties to receive the funding, they must
come up with matching funds, said Alexis T. Lum, executive assistant to Inouye
in Honolulu.
The funds will be used to monitor and protect water resources
for Hawaii’s future generations, Skousen said from Washington, D.C.
Funding announced by Inouye for 17 projects includes:
l $33 million for the
operations of the government of American Samoa.
l $7.4 million for the
restoration of a seawall on Tern Island, which is part of the Hawaiian Islands
National Wildlife Refuge.
l $4.2 million for the preservation of the World
War II-era camps in which Japanese of American ancestry were interned.
l $2
million to build an office and laboratory for the Institute of Pacific Islands
Forestry’s research, technical assistance and public-outreach programs
l
$2.3 million for the continued control of brown tree snakes.
l $1 million
for creating the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
l $1 million for
the acquisition of additional land for the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife
Refuge.
l $742,000 for the Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts
Program.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
225) and[lchang@pulitzer.net]
