photo credit: Kaimi Scudder
At 11 am on Saturday, June 30, in Kawainui Neighborhood Park (also known as Kaha Park) in Kailua, Governor Lingle will be signing into law House Bill 1899. Mayor Hannemann will also speak at this ceremony. This, in addition to a historic agreement between the State of Hawaii and the City & County of Honolulu that went into effect in April 2007, paves the way for the City to transfer ownership of the entire marsh to the State. The only exception will be Oneawa Channel, which the City will still be responsible for maintaining. With these agreements in place, budget bill HB500 will provide $920,000 in state funding over the next two fiscal years for the maintenance and restoration of Kawainui Marsh.
Because of this agreement and this new law, the DLNR will now be able to reapply for $4.1 million in federal funding from the Army Corps of Engineers in the next fiscal year for a project that will vastly improve water bird habitat in a sizeable section of the marsh. This and several other projects underway or in the planning stages will benefit the health, maintenance and restoration of Kawainui Marsh as well as provide improved facilities and educational programs to the community.
Recent grants from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation to support the restoration and appreciation of Kawainui Marsh include:
In addition, Foundation staff served as neutral facilitators in the negotiations between the State and the City & County that led to the breakthrough agreement in April 2007.