Annual Meeting Set for October 30
The 2015 ELRA Annual Meeting will be held on October 30, starting at 6pm. By popular request, it will return to the beautiful Mid Pacific Country Club.
At the meeting, we’ll update you on the mediation between the ELRA and Delta Construction. For those new to the lake, ELRA filed legal action against Delta Construction for damage to the lake caused by sediment that ran off their construction site and into the lake between 2010 and 2011.
In addition to legal updates, you’ll be able to chat with other lake-front owners, learn about the health of the lake and future plans, and vote for new board members. Be on the lookout for more information and the dinner reservation form that will be mailed to you soon.
We hope to see you at this very important meeting!
ELRA Board Members visit Olomana Heights Construction Site
Several representatives from the ELRA Board met with employees of Goodfellow Brothers in late August to review efforts to control runoff from the Olomana Heights construction site.
The lake has been colored red multiple times in the last months by storm runoff from the 23-lot subdivision being developed by the ironically named Greene Waters Group.
Goodfellow Brothers are the contractors of the site-work for the 64-acre project located on the previously well-vegetated slopes of Olomana. They have made numerous improvements to the BMPs, but it is evident that this is not enough. To their credit, Goodfellow Brothers has been responsive to ELRA’s concerns and appear to be working on the problem areas. Representatives of ELRA will be continuing to monitor the project and its impact on the lake.
You can read more about Olomana Heights on their website: https://olomanaheights.com/
Lake Health… a rainbow of colors
The lake has gone from blue to green to red and many shades in between over the last couple of months!
Lake health has been affected by the inflow of fresh water from the siphon at Kawainui Marsh, the multiple openings of the stream mouth at the beach and by sediment and nutrient run-off entering the lake from the Olomana Heights subdivision.
Construction sites, such as Olomana Heights and the city project to refurbish the banks of the storm water channel entering the lake from near St. John Vianney, caused the lake to be highly fertile for algae growth. At least twice during the last month, the lake has bloomed to a bright green with phytoplankton growth, but on both occasions this bloom was washed out to sea, along with the rainfall from our multiple hurricanes.
Heavy rains from recent nearby hurricanes brought sediment from the Olomana Heights project into the lake, however, during the last couple of storms, the sediment plumes from this project have been mainly confined to the Kaelepulu Wetland area.
The stream mouth was open at the beach until mid-September and closed with the lake at a reasonably high elevation.
Kukilakila Boat Ramp area to be dredged
The area around the boat ramp has become extremely shallow over the years. The ELRA Board and Kukilakila Board agreed to move forward with dredging of the boat ramp at Kukilakila with equipment offered as a public service by Goodfellow Brothers. Work is expected to take place before the end of the year.