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Iao Valley parks to take months to repair after September siege by Wailuku River

The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos - Kawika Sabado chants after placing a lei on a koa tree that hangs precariously on the banks above the Wailuku River at Iao Valley State Monument after being spared from rushing floodwaters. A blessing and news conference were hosted by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources at the park damaged by floodwaters on Sept. 13.

IAO VALLEY – Iao Valley state park is expected to remain closed for four to six months, while Kepaniwai Park down the road is not scheduled to reopen for another six to eight months, due to damage from the raging Wailuku River on Sept. 13, state and county officials said Tuesday.

The announcement came during a news conference and blessing hosted by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources at the state park, where cleanup operations were well underway. About 60 people attended the ceremony, including some of the families whose homes were flooded that night by the Wailuku River.

“We were very, very fortunate that in this event we did not lose any lives,” Maui County Managing Director Keith Regan said. “The power of this river was incredible. You see rocks, boulders that weigh 4 or 5,000 pounds that were tossed around like children’s toys.”

Initial damage estimates to the county’s Kepaniwai Park were over $10 million with immediate protective measures to the parking lot, where chunks collapsed into the Wailuku River, alone estimated to cost about $1.7 million to $1.8 million.

“It’s really just to shore up that portion of the parking lot,” Regan said. “It’s not to rebuild it or push it back out. It’s really just to protect that area because the way that the river is flowing right now – with enough velocity in the stream it’ll come straight into that bend that exists there now and continue to undermine the parking lot.

State Department of Land and Natural Resources Maui District Superintendent Larry Pacheco (from left) assists Lei of Aloha members Kawika Sabado, Alalani Hill and Ron Panzo as they pour water off an Iao Valley State Monument footbridge Tuesday morning while conducting a Hawaiian blessing of valley property, residents, workers and equipment.

“If we don’t do something, it’s going to go right through the park, as it did during the event. We want to make sure we get these measures in place as soon as possible.”

DLNR Maui District Superintendent Larry Pacheco said debris removal and cleanup will cost $300,000 to $400,000 at the state park above Kepaniwai. He said the entire project of re-creating and improving the park could cost between $6 million and $15 million.

“The biggest problem right now is the stabilization of the parking lot,” he said. “It’s about 60 feet from the top to the bottom, and we lost about 20 feet of land over here. That’s probably going to be the biggest expense we’ll incur.”

Sections of the park’s popular loop trails end abruptly, and walkway hand railings have disappeared after dropping nearly 20 feet into the river, officials said. Guests at Tuesday’s ceremony were cautioned about crossing the bridge over Kinihapai Stream, which officials limited to 600 pounds.

Pacheco said the bridge is “sound, but we won’t know how sound the bridge footings are, until experts get a closer look.” The DLNR may consider adding an additional temporary support to augment the existing footing or designing and installing an additional truss element for structural integrity.

Excavator operators from T.J. Gomes Trucking clear debris from Wailuku River's riverbed near Kepaniwai Park on Tuesday morning. The rocks have changed the flow of the river, diverting water from stream intakes that provide water to county residents.

“First, we need to clean up and remove all the debris, mitigate at least three potentially hazardous rockfall locations and determine what needs to be done to repair the cliff wall immediately below the monument’s lower parking lot,” Curt Cottrell, state Parks Division administrator, said in a news release.

Pacheco said he was unsure if the state will be repairing the loop trails, where the land has completely washed away.

“I don’t think we’ll chose to restore it the way it was before because of the amount of labor and manpower to create those walkways again with concrete,” he said. “There’s other options now that might be more feasible and easier to install. If something happens, we won’t have such concrete and heavy debris to remove.

“You have to consider public safety as well. Do we want to reopen that area for public use?”

Vares Constructing Inc. has been hired to clear the state park and expects to finish in six to eight weeks. The company has experience working at the park and was previously hired to clean up Polipoli State Park on Haleakala after Hurricane Iselle in 2014.

Kahu Alalani Hill places a lei around the neck of Iao Valley resident Lisa Higa on Tuesday. Her home in valley was flooded by the river on Sept. 13.

Edward Vares, president of the company, said the biggest challenge will be moving debris from across the river to the parking lot. Another problem has been residents and tourists continuing to walk up the river and toward the work site.

“I caught people walking up the river, hiking, traversing – Indiana Jones action – and we’d yell from over there,” Vares said pointing to the park. “Especially when I’m doing concrete sidewalks, I don’t want them getting up to the loop trail. I saw people every day so eventually after the first week we posted someone at the gate by Kepaniwai.”

Three to six people hike up the river daily to get past security and closed gates, Vares said. He said some are tourists, saying it is their last day on island.

“I respect the cultural practices, but . . . we respectfully ask that people stay out until it’s done,” he said.

When open, about 1,800 visitors come to the state park daily, generating about $20,000 per month in parking fees, Pacheco said. He said the money goes to equipment, maintenance, cleanup, personnel and other expenses.

“That’s one of our revenue generating opportunities we have here,” he said. “Iao Valley is one of our gems here on Maui so it is important to get this park up and going again, not only for the visitors, but also the local community that frequents this park.”

Kepaniwai Park attracts even more visitors and locals a day – at least 2,000 to 2,500, said Teena Rasmussen, county economic development director. She said that the valley is easy to find and one of the most historic places on Maui. It gives visitors an option if they do not have time to drive to Hana or other rainforest areas of the island.

“I think they’re going to miss it a lot, and I think it’s a reminder for all of us how we sometimes take these beautiful parks for granted,” Rasmussen said. “All of a sudden when they’re gone we realize what we’re missing out on and in a way it makes us appreciate it more.”

Four excavators could be seen removing debris and shifting rocks in the river bed along Kepaniwai on Tuesday afternoon. The flood significantly widened the river and has changed its course and flow, causing issues. “The rocks are only allowing 50 percent capacity for water under the bridge” at Kepaniwai, Regan said.

The shifting rock also has diverted water away from Wailuku Water Co.’s intake in two areas, which is causing the company to lose out on millions of gallons of water. One of the excavators was moving rocks to redirect the stream over the intake near Kepaniwai’s parking lot, and work is being done on the other intake, Regan said. Some of the water from the intakes makes its way into the county water system.

“We’re missing about 3 million gallons of water a day that used to come from the river,” he said. “It is significant. We’re OK, we have capacity, but if something were to go wrong – we rely on this water to help build up on that capacity. So we’re asking people to cut back a little on their water use, but we haven’t implemented any mandatory restrictions.”

Regan said Hawaii Air and Army National Guard personnel have helped county workers and others remove 327 tons of debris over a week, primarily from residents’ properties. The debris was being taken to a temporary disposal site near the Central Maui Landfill, where it was being composted and cataloged for FEMA reimbursements.

Still, piles of dead organic debris are all over the river, Regan said.

“If you look, there’s still hundreds of tons of debris still in the river that needs to be removed,” he said. “Part of the problem is that the next big storm that comes through is going to basically push all of this downstream into our flood control or perhaps into the residences of other people along the river and may cause problems.”

Gov. David Ige has requested that President Barack Obama issue a disaster declaration that will allow the flow of federal assistance in repairing county and state facilities.

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