{"id":875466,"date":"2026-06-18T08:37:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/875466\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:37:46","slug":"iao-valley-emergency-flood-repairs-approved-but-questions-arise-about-long-term-impacts-to-river-maui-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/875466\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018\u012aao Valley emergency flood repairs approved; but questions arise about long-term impacts to river : Maui Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\"\"The severely eroded banks of a riverfront property in \u2018\u012aao Valley are seen on April 24, 2026, a month after two major Kona low storms. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

When rising floodwaters threatened their properties in March, \u2018\u012aao Valley residents living on the banks of the Wailuku River rushed to protect their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all in constant communication, wanting to make sure we were doing what we could to help each other and not hurt each other,\u201d said Kainoa Horcajo, whose family lost several acres during the storm. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Hawai\u2018i Commission on Water Resource Management decided<\/a> the work done by residents in the days after the flood to move rocks with excavators and redirect the Wailuku River was in line with emergency rules and won\u2019t require additional permitting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Owners of six properties in the valley came before the commission on Tuesday to review the emergency measures they had taken and asked to forgo a stream channel alteration permit that\u2019s required for any work done in a stream. The commission approved all of them.<\/p>\n

But the patchwork repairs along the banks raised questions about the long-term impacts to the river and what can be done in the future to protect homes and natural resources as destructive storms become more frequent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that our climate is changing, weather patterns are changing. This may no longer be a 100-year flood event. Maybe it\u2019s going to be happening every 10 years,\u201d said H\u014dk\u016bao Pellegrino, president of Hui o N\u0101 Wai \u2018Eh\u0101<\/a>, an organization that advocates for mauka to makai streamflow restoration. \u201c<\/p>\n

In the days after the flood, Pellegrino the organization received 13 emails and phone calls complaining about excavators in the Wailuku River. The heavy machinery was an emergency measure, brought in shortly after the first Kona low storm to shore up the banks of the river before a second storm descended on the islands the following weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before the hui had even contacted the water commission to ask for an investigation, the state reached out and said it had also received complaints. On March 20, the Department of Land and Natural Resources posted a photo on social media<\/a> warning against the unauthorized use of heavy machinery in streams.<\/p>\n

\"\"Heavy machinery is used for unpermitted stream work in \u2018\u012aao Valley on March 19, 2026. Photo courtesy: DLNR<\/p>\n

Residents said at the time that the excavators were removed from the valley shortly after, leaving them with half-finished berms as they braced for the second storm. <\/p>\n

Dean Uyeno, manager of the Stream Protection and Management Branch, said state laws allow residents to take emergency action to prevent loss of life or damage to property, as long as the work is focused on removing \u201cimmediate threats\u201d and the residents notify the department and seek emergency authorization.<\/p>\n

If the commission decided the property owners had gone beyond the minimum amount of work necessary for an emergency authorization, it could require full stream channel alternation permits and require the residents to take corrective actions.<\/p>\n

Residents said the work they did was limited to repairing damage caused by the storm and restoring the stream channel to how it was before. They included:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robert and Tamara Horcajo<\/a><\/strong>: Their property was one of the hardest hit by the flood, which impacted 2,500 feet of river fronting their land. On the north side, they lost land, and on the south side, they lost farm crops, planting areas, farming supplies, lumber material for milling and building material next to a wash\/pack facility, which was then in the current path of the river.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to their application, \u201cemergency actions were taken to protect the wash\/pack facility and other farm assets by redirecting the river flow towards the location where it existed prior to the storm,\u201d and more emergency action is still needed to protect the second farm dwelling. The Horcajos requested emergency authorization on March 20 and were approved on March 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Water commission documents show the shored-up stream banks along the Horcajo family\u2019s property. Photo courtesy: CWRM<\/p>\n

Yas and Mina Yamazaki<\/a><\/strong>: The flood impacted about 275 feet of river fronting their property. While their home survived, the Yamazakis lost some land as well as their river water pumping station. Their 15,000-gallon water tank, the only source of water for the Yamazakis and two other neighboring families, was in danger of falling into the river.<\/p>\n

Work on their property involved piling rocks at the base of the denuded streambank to reach the top of the concrete stairs that partially washed away. They requested emergency authorization on March 20 and were approved on March 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Duey family<\/strong><\/a>: The flood impacted about 1,900 feet of river fronting their land and started encroaching on structures on the property as the river changed course. The family wanted to remove large boulders, fallen trees and other litter that washed downstream, as well as redirect the river back toward its prior pathway and remove debris to prevent obstruction of streamflow.<\/p>\n

Work on their property included creating a rock berm to divert streamflow toward the opposite bank. They applied for emergency authorization on March 23 and were approved on March 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tom and Carrie Bashaw<\/a><\/strong>: Flooding impacted about 160 feet of river in front of their property, weakening the riverbanks until their home collapsed into the stream. It also threatened their septic system which was within 15 to 20 feet of the riverbank, along with a barn\/shop building about 90 feet away.<\/p>\n

Work involved moving rocks toward the remaining streambank to protect their property. They requested emergency authorization on March 24 and were approved on the same day.\u00a0Tom Bashaw said they also \u201cput a little bit of soil on the edge of the bank\u201d to make it safer and so they could access the river to pump water to their tanks. He said they\u2019re not planning on adding any more soil, and that bringing in enough soil to replace the land they lost is \u201ccost-prohibitive for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just going to leave it the way nature takes it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Rocks were moved to the edge of the Bashaws\u2019 \u2018\u012aao Valley property to shore up the bank after the storm. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Mark Juergensmeyer<\/a>: <\/strong>The flood impacted the entire 230 feet of river fronting the property, eroding away about a third of an acre as well as trees and a gazebo. The realigned river threatened a storage structure about 15 feet away from the new river bank and his main home about 30 feet away. Juergensmeyer sought to use an excavator to move rocks in the river to protect the remaining streambank. He requested emergency authorization on March 26 and was approved on March 27.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Gomes family\u2019s restoration work is shown on both banks of the Wailuku River. Photo courtesy: CWRM<\/p>\n

Robert and Mary Ann Gomes<\/strong><\/a>: The flood impacted about 40 feet of river fronting their property. While their homes were not damaged, the Gomes family lost about 20 to 40 feet of land on both the north and south streambanks. Work involved restoring both banks of the river. The family requested emergency authorization on March 26 and were approved March 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On all of the properties, commission staff said excavators were used and the work \u201cwas limited to the minimum amount necessary to remove immediate threats to health and safety or to prevent immediate or further damage to property.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was no hardening of the stream bank or construction of new structures.<\/p>\n

Commissioners said any future non-emergency work in the river will require a stream channel alteration permit.<\/p>\n

In 2016, after a flood in \u2018\u012aao Valley was described as a \u201c100-year event\u201d by officials, Maui County removed thousands of tons of rocks<\/a> that had washed downstream and sent some to the landfill to be crushed, sparking backlash from Native Hawaiians who said the rocks were sacred.<\/p>\n

The response to 2016 flooding was \u201cvery messy, and this time around, we wanted to stay ahead of that,\u201d said Pellegrino. But he added: \u201cWe fell into similar situations where work was being done without authorization,\u201d which was challenging given that the hui knows and works with many of the families in the valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not here to impede or be a barrier to the work that is needed to protect those that were affected,\u201d Pellegrino said. \u201cWe want to reiterate the importance of making sure that the work in our streams and rivers, and in particular the Wailuku River, is being done in a pono manner, and that both cultural and natural resources are being protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the hui has concerns about how the repairs to individual properties could impact the overall river in the long term. With all these \u201cone-offs,\u201d rechanneling and moving parts of the stream to make sure it goes back into the center, Pellegrino said the big questions is: \u201cHow is that impacting those neighbors that didn\u2019t do any of that rechanneling work? How is that impacting water infrastructure, cultural resources, native aquatic stream life?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is especially important because the Wailuku River is the cultural and scientific \u201cgem\u201d of N\u0101 Wai \u2018Eh\u0101, which also includes the Waikap\u016b, Waiehu and Waihe\u2018e streams, Pellegrino said.<\/p>\n

Uyeno said \u201cit\u2019s difficult to say\u201d how the river would change after the flooding and repairs.\u00a0The river already has expanded from 20 to 40 feet to nearly 100 feet in some areas because of the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, we would want them to come forward with a concerted effort as a community to come up with a solution,\u201d Uyeno said. \u201cBut when you\u2019re in that, when that storm is happening, it\u2019s hard to make these decisions. And it\u2019s hard, we\u2019re not on the ground on Maui or anywhere else to make these decisions, and so we do the best that we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Wailuku River flows through \u2018\u012aao Valley on April 24, 2026. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Kainoa Horcajo said while there are many landowners in the valley, only about seven or eight live along the 2-mile stretch of the river from Kepaniwai Park to the county\u2019s flood control basin. They have formed a group called Hui M\u0101lama \u2018\u012aao that includes both river-fronting neighbors as well as other landowners in the valley who are starting to have discussions about \u201clong-term safety, resiliency and stream river restoration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that long term, we need to do something else,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one wants to work independently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hocajo agreed with Pellegrino that solutions need to be culturally respectful and scientifically based, and said one of the hui\u2019s goals is working with the county and the state to figure out whether they can do a \u201ccomplete watershed restoration plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to do our best to move as quickly as we can to figure out what we need to do, knowing that the changing weather environment will provide more opportunities and more dangers like this in the future,\u201d Hocajo said. \u201cWe do not want to impact negatively cultural resources, the biological resources of the river.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group aims to work with Hui o N\u0101 Wai \u2018Eh\u0101 and doesn\u2019t want to duplicate its work. Hui M\u0101lama \u2018\u012aao\u2019s focus will go beyond the river, including security, exit and entry, and other issues for residents in the valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to do our best,\u201d Horcajo said. \u201cWe know that we often might disagree. What might be best for one individual property might not be what someone else wants to do. We want to operate within the law in this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The severely eroded banks of a riverfront property in \u2018\u012aao Valley are seen on April 24, 2026, a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":875467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[355835,127415,103559,3534,746,8580,355836,355837,279964,89001,125439,159,67,132,68,186729,355838,313],"class_list":["post-875466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-cwrm","tag-disaster-recovery","tag-dlnr","tag-emergency","tag-environment","tag-flooding","tag-hui-o-na-wai-eha","tag-iao-valley","tag-kona-low-storm","tag-maui-county","tag-npcrosspost","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wailuku-river","tag-water-commission","tag-weather"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116770206772663290","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}