State engineers are investigating whether to remove most of a beach in order to reopen the Pohoiki Boat Ramp.
At a public meeting Aug. 18, Department of Land and Natural Resources representatives and consultants presented three different plans for constructing a channel through the sandbar that formed in front of the ramp in 2018 during the Kilauea eruption.
By the end of that meeting, there was no general consensus on which plan should be pursued.
However, Finn McCall, engineering branch head for DLNR’s Division of Boating and Recreation, told the Tribune-Herald last week that the state has made a “preliminary decision” to pursue a fourth option.
The three options for reopening the ramp presented at the public meeting all involved dredging channels through the sandbar.
The cheaper two options would be to dredge relatively simple unshielded channels differing mainly in their dimensions and costs, while the most expensive option would shelter the channel behind a pair of large dikes. The cheapest channel option is estimated to cost about $3.6 million, while the dike option could cost as much as $62 million.
But McCall said the fourth potential option wouldn’t necessarily be a channel at all. Instead, he said the department is considering a “larger-scale dredging project” that would remove as much of the sandbar as possible.
“Basically, our goal is to dredge as much as we can while still being allowed under our permit,” McCall said.
This option was not presented at the Aug. 18 meeting, but several attendees had suggested dredging the entire sandbar as a possible solution.
McCall told the Tribune-Herald the department isn’t considering removing the entire sandbar, which would cost about $30 million.
The potential fourth option is still only being considered on preliminary terms.
But McCall said that if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency agree to the project, construction could begin by next summer.
The Army Corps of Engineers maintains a nationwide permit program, wherein certain projects can apply for permitting under blanket terms, streamlining the process significantly. McCall said that the decision to proceed with the fourth option is largely contingent on whether the project is still eligible for a nationwide permit.
Meanwhile, should FEMA agree to fund the project, McCall said the agency could provide up to 75% of the project’s funds.
But FEMA also will require a complete environmental assessment before those funds are disbursed.
McCall said he could not speculate on how quickly FEMA or the Army Corps could approve the project, but added that there should be confirmation one way or the other by the end of the year.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.