Important ag lands study underway

LIHU‘E — A long-awaited agricultural study is finally underway and its results could well determine the future of farmland on the Garden Island.

The Important Agricultural Lands study, mandated by state law and to be implemented by the individual counties, will use a host of criteria to determine which areas of the island should be preserved for ag use and which are not as critical.

The study officially kicked off with a meeting Wednesday night at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall. It was attended by a large of the island’s power structure: Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. sat alongside Planning Director Ian Costa and County Attorney Al Castillo during a presentation by Dr. Karl Kim of the University of Hawai‘i’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Specifically up for review were the eight criteria that will be used, under Act 183, by the state Land Use Commission. (See sidebar)

The crowd, some 50 strong, first used handheld clickers used in UH classrooms to rate each criteria on its importance to the process, and those ratings were used to develop rankings.

Former Mayor JoAnn Yukimura, Council Chair Bill “Kaipo” Asing, County Clerk Peter Nakamura, County Engineer Donald Fujimoto and Planning Commissioner Hartwell Blake also attended, and many participated in small group discussions with community members to further hash out the important criteria.

While the criteria were later criticized by prominent farmer Jerry Ornellas as being “obviously authored by guys with no dirt under their fingernails,” both the large group and smaller sub-groups came to the conclusion that good soil and water are essential to farming operations.

The determinations, which are expected to be included in the final report when it is published in March 2011, have come in recent years during Kaua‘i County Council discussions of land-use legislation like a transient vacation rental ordinance update currently in the works.

Nearly everyone in the room — those inside and outside county government — agreed agriculture will play an essential role down the road.

“Without food and without teachers,” said one attendee, referring to a pair of budget cuts proposed recently, “it’s a grim future.”

The next step in the IAL process is the convening of a Stakeholder/Technical Advisory Committee volunteer group that will help guide the identification of important agricultural lands on Kaua‘i.

For more information, call the Planning Department at 241-4061 or visit the IAL Web site at sites.google.com/site/kauaiial.

• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.

Important Agricultural Land criteria

1. Land currently used for agricultural production;

2. Land with soil qualities and growing conditions that support agricultural production of food, fiber, or fuel- and energy-producing crops;

3. Land identified under agricultural productivity rating systems, such as the agricultural lands of importance to the state of Hawai‘i (ALISH) system adopted by the board of agriculture on Jan. 28, 1977;

4. Land types associated with traditional native Hawaiian agricultural uses, such as taro cultivation, or unique agricultural crops and uses, such as coffee, vineyards, aquaculture and energy production;

5. Land with sufficient quantities of water to support viable agriculture production;

6. Land whose designation as important agricultural lands is consistent with general, development and community plans of the county;

7. Land that contributes to maintaining a critical land mass important to agricultural operating activity; and

8. Land with or near support infrastructure conducive to agricultural productivity, such as transportation to markets, water or power.

— The Garden Island