Streamlined permit process helps Alakoko

HULE‘IA — Seven years ago the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) launched a streamlined application for loko i‘a (fishpond) repair and restoration as part of the Ho‘ala Loko I‘a program.

Since its beginning, 20 new fishpond-restoration permits have been issued.

The Alakoko Fishpond, also known as the Menehune Fishpond, is a loko i‘a on the Hule‘ia River, approximately 3,280 feet upstream from the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor.

The 40-acre fishpond is the largest on Kaua‘i, and is on private land owned and managed by the nonprofit Malama Hule’ia.

The organization was originally formed by a group of canoe paddlers who recognized mangrove were overgrowing and taking over the river and fishpond. The group formed and developed a community-based project to do mangrove restoration.

“Alakoko had really been let go and overgrown for the last several decades, and mangrove was overgrowing,” said Sarah Bowen, executive director of Malama Hule‘ia said.

“We were able to work with the OCCL to get a permit. It was just in the early stages of the new permit process, developed to help fishpond practitioners navigate the bureaucratic hoops of a host of different state regulatory agencies. Ho‘ala Loko I‘a gives practitioners the capability of submitting one permit and having each agency review that one permit. It is really a blessing for organizations like ours.”

So far, Malama Hule‘ia has removed 26 acres of mangroves at the fishpond.

“We were able to get onto the nearly half-mile-long rock wall, but we had to cut our way through because the mangrove was so thick. You couldn’t tell how far away you were from the river or how far away you were away from the fishpond, it was so overgrown. It’s very different now,” Bowen said.

Since the launch of the new permit process in 2015, the number of fishpond-restoration projects has increased significantly.

“We began issuing these new permits because we found that practitioners were caught up in an endless cycle that they couldn’t extract themselves from,” OCCL Administrator Michael Cain said.

“There were 17 different federal, state and county regulations they needed to comply with, and it was a nearly impossible system to navigate, which resulted in very few sought-after or approved permits over the course of several decades. The current permit system encompasses almost all the required state permits.”

“The program was strengthened significantly when I signed Act 230, which waived Department of Heath water-quality certifications for loko that are permitted under the program,” Gov. David Ige said.

“With these and other programs, we are better managing our water resources and the nearshore ocean waters that provide habitat for spectacular marine life and are a vital cultural link to the past for Native Hawaiians,” Ige said.

Fishponds also support local food production and provide important ecosystem services, such as flood mitigation and sediment retention.

In consort with the streamlined application process OCCL created a permit application guidebook, available online.