A bill which could boost safety at a popular swimming spot in Puna is moving through the state Legislature. ADVERTISING A bill which could boost safety at a popular swimming spot in Puna is moving through the state Legislature. House
A bill which could boost safety at a popular swimming spot in Puna is moving through the state Legislature.
House Bill 1200, introduced by state Rep. Joy San Buenaventura, D-Puna, would fund a feasibility study to determine the best way to establish a designated swimming area at Pohoiki. The measure passed its first Senate reading Tuesday.
Bill supporters say Puna lacks a safe swimming area because of lava inundation at Kalapana. They say Pohoiki also contains the only boat ramp in Puna and becomes dangerous when swimmers and boaters mix.
Pohoiki is a longtime, popular swimming spot and, according to the bill, more than 100 people can be seen in the water some weekends while boats are entering and exiting.
“We’re all thrilled about (the proposal moving forward),” San Buenaventura said Thursday. “It’s been generations of people who’ve been using the boat ramp as a swim area.”
The bill was amended to use special funds — rather than general funds — to fund the study.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which would be tasked to conduct the study, opposes the bill, stating special fund accounts are “limited” and the majority already is used to cover operational expenses.
“There is no guarantee that funding will be available to support this feasibility study,” DLNR’s testimony reads.
Others lauded the idea, including Puna Councilwoman Eileen O’Hara, who said Pohoiki’s mixed use “invites potential injuries, especially as the boat ramp has become even more active with the increase in commercial lava boat tours.”
HB 1200’s companion bill, filed by state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna, died in the Senate.
Bills to study the feasibility of a harbor or port at Kapoho Bay also died. House Bill 1199 and its companion Senate Bill 842 — also sponsored by San Buenaventura and Ruderman — would have funded a study to determine feasible places to establish a harbor or port at the “naturally protected bay.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in testimony that the idea already was vetted twice and deemed “not feasible … because of the bay’s natural features and the extensive dredging and infrastructure construction required for the harbor facility.”
San Buenaventura said Thursday she plans to look at those previous studies more closely and wants to continue mulling the idea.
“It’s disappointing,” she said. “ … (If a harbor was added) we could leave the existing boat ramp (at Pohoiki) as a swim area. The actual people who use (Pohoiki’s) boat ramp have told me it’s dangerous because of the current to go through that area anyway. So I think if we could find a safer place for boaters and for swimmers, it’d be a win-win.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
