PO‘IPU — The car ground to a halt, its movement stopped by a “Road Flooded” sign and traffic barrier, yesterday. But the sun was shining, the ground, while still damp from passing overnight showers, was relatively dry. The driver put
PO‘IPU — The car ground to a halt, its movement stopped by a “Road Flooded” sign and traffic barrier, yesterday.
But the sun was shining, the ground, while still damp from passing overnight showers, was relatively dry. The driver put his car into reverse, and slowly looked for another parking stall.
Portions of the western parking lot at the Po‘ipu Beach Park has been closed off since the recent heavy rains forced the overflow of a small pond at the adjacent park, flooding the parking lot.
“The flooding in the Po‘ipu Beach Park parking lot is a long-standing issue,” said Mary Daubert, the county’s public information officer, in a written statement. “We are looking at innovative ways to deal with this matter on a permanent basis.”
That seemed to placate a passing beach-goer who shook his head in frustration as he watched three pump trucks from Aqua Engineers humming while their operators worked to reduce the level of the water.
Daubert said the county is doing its best to make the parking lot as usable as possible for residents and visitors, the county expecting that Po‘ipu Beach Park will experience high traffic in the next few weeks.
That forecast may come true as the Kaua‘i Hoe Wa‘a program is planning to launch its 2009 season with a race starting at Po‘ipu during the Jan. 3 weekend.
That announcement was made by Tom Bartlett, who has been meeting with one-man and two-man canoe enthusiasts during the off-season.
“When the Kaua‘i Hoe Wa’a race takes place, there are usually between 50 and 60 craft launching,” Bartlett said last weekend during a benefit paddle for the Kaua‘i Food Bank.
Those craft operators and their support crew need places to park, and yesterday, with just the normal flow of beach-goers, parking overflowed onto the shoulders and into every available space that was not under water.
In anticipation of the high park usage over the next few days, Daubert said the county issued an emergency procurement and contracted with Aqua Engineers to pump the water out.
“We started work on Christmas Eve, and as of yesterday, more than 100,000 gallons of water have been removed,” said one operator of the pump trucks that have been flowing steadily into and out of the parking lot.
The standing water is not contaminated and has been relocated to one of the Aqua Engineers facility where it will be disposed of, the operator said.
Daubert said the work should be completed by some time today.
Estimates for the cost of removing the standing water were not available, but according to Civil Defense Administrator Mark Marshall, the county may be able to request reimbursement for the cost if the President issues an emergency declaration for the flooding event.
In the meantime, frustrated motorists driving SUVs continue to churn through the remaining water, sending waves that disrupt the swimming of hundreds of black tadpoles that have hatched in the temporary lake.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
