What may surprise you to know is the many areas in Kihei do not have a stormwater drainage system. Kihei is built on a flood plain, and this area is known for flooding. But the engineering and stormwater infrastructure that you might expect to be there, was never put in place. The area was never planned to be a residential neighborhood, so the basic infrastructure was not put into place. The building has happened in an unregulated and unplanned manner for decades, The result is a community that is at risk from flooding, in an area that is underserved with basic amenities, like drainage. We need to demand that the State and County build proper drainage, to protect people and property from flooding due to stormwater runoff and flash-flooding.
We need to demand that the County Builds a proper drainage system to protect our neighborhoods
Here is what our Community Plan says about drainage:
Drainage – Objectives and Policies:
a. Design drainage systems that protect coastal water quality by incorporating best management practices to remove pollutants from runoff. Construct and maintain, as needed, sediment retention basins
and other best management practices to remove sediments and other pollutants from runoff.
b. Construct necessary drainage improvements in flood-prone areas. Where replacement drainage are required for flood protection, these systems shall be designed, constructed, and maintained using
structural controls and best management practices to preserve the functions of the natural system that are beneficial to water quality. These functions include infiltration, moderation of flow velocity,
reduced erosion, uptake of nutrients and pollutants by plants, filtering, and settlement of sediment particles. The use of landscaped swales and unlined channels shall be urged.
c. Support the implementation of flood control projects and sediment retention basins mauka of Piilani Highway to address present problem areas.
d. Minimize the increase in discharge of stormwater runoff to coastal waters by preserving flood storage capacity in low-lying areas, and encouraging infiltration of runoff.
e. Encourage the use of setbacks and flood protection areas as part of an open space pedestrian-way and bikeway network throughout the region.
(Kihei-Makena-Community-Plan-1998)
