Cash for quake repairs pruned from farm bill

GOP senators reject disaster funds for Big Island water fixes

State officials are scrambling to find other sources of federal money to assist agricultural water systems on the Big Island that are still recovering from the Oct. 15 earthquakes and the series of strong aftershocks.

Recovery efforts were dealt a blow Tuesday when efforts to provide $4.8 billion in agricultural disaster aid were thwarted in the U.S. Senate. The money -- included in an amendment to an agriculture spending bill -- included $19 million in earthquake assistance for Hawaii, U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye's office said.

"We are nowhere close to declaring an end to the disaster period," said Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, the state's adjutant general and director of state Civil Defense.

Most of the earthquake assistance money was earmarked for the Big Island -- $6 million for repair of the Lower Hamakua Ditch and $4 million for the Waimea Irrigation System/Upper Hamakua Ditch, Inouye's office said.

Majority Republicans objected to the amendment after the White House issued a veto threat, saying it was too expensive. Supporters fell three votes shy of the 60 needed to overcome the objection.

"The rejection was heartless and unconscionable," Inouye said in a news release.

Inouye and fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka said the matter would be addressed again next year, after Democrats assume control of the Senate and House.

"I just want to thank the senators for trying," Lee said.

Lee said he would discuss further options with state Agriculture Director Sandra Lee Kunimoto.

Meanwhile, state Civil Defense authorities and the Hawaii National Guard will continue to work with farmers and volunteers on the Big Island to repair the irrigation systems and get water where it is needed, Lee said.

"We're working with the farmers to either pump water or (in some cases) we've had volunteers work with our National Guard to clear away the landslides and get the water flowing again."

Lee noted that efforts have been hampered by strong aftershocks since the 6.7-magnitude temblor, followed by a 6-magnitude quake, struck Oct. 15.

The agricultural disaster aid amendment also included $7 million in assistance for Hawaii's continued recovery from floods caused by heavy rains earlier this year, Inouye's office said.

That money included $3 million for repair of the Kauai irrigation system damaged when the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam burst; $3 million in assistance for farmers of sugar beets and sugarcane; and $1 million for crop-loss disaster aid for farmers on Oahu and Kauai.