WRRCTMR No.26 Proposed Zones of Mixing in Coastal Waters of Kauai

Abstract

This memorandum report pertains to proposals to establish a number of zones of mixing in the coastal waters of Kauai in order to accommodate certain discharges of Kekaha Sugar Co., Gay and Robinson, Olokele Sugar Co., Kauai Electric Co., McBryde Sugar Co., Grove Farm Co., Lihue Plantation Co., Kauai County, and Kilauea Sugar Co., described in a notice of public hearings to be held August 24, 25, and 26 in Lihue, Kauai. Applications from eight agencies are being considered for the establishment of 15 zones of mixing in the coastal waters of Kauai with a total area of over 12,000 acres, nearly 20 square miles, to accommodate discharges of five different types of waste water occurring at 50 separate sites. The ecological, esthetic, and economic effects of these discharges vary enormously depending on the type of discharge, its flow rate, and its concentration of undesirable materials, and in addition on natural physical, chemical, and biological conditions at and near the discharge site. mixing, information must be submitted whereby the pertinent economic, ecological, and esthetic effects may be analyzed and such an analysis must be made from the-standpoint of the-overall public interest. Within each zone of mixing, special tolerance limits should be set for those pollutants whose mixing is to be accommodated, whereas for other pollutants the normal limits for the class of water in question should be retained. A suitable monitoring program may be required for continuance of a zone of mixing.