I Mua Lower Puna
"The Road to Recovery Begins with a Road"

Our mission is to assist in the restoration of impacted communities following the 2018 eruption of the Lower East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano.
I Mua Lower Puna is a community coalition consisting of the organizations below, property owners and residents impacted by the 2018 Kilauea eruption. The coalition was created to unite disaster victims to re-gain access to their homes and land and support each other in rebuilding our communities.

​Currently, a large part of our effort is to ensure disaster funding are allocated to disaster areas and victims. ​
Just because the eruption is over does not mean we are done recovering. 
-Representative Joy San Buenaventura
Photo credit: Dane Dupont, Hawaii Tracker
  • Vacationland Hawaii Community Association (VHCA) is a homeowner association and consists of over 300 properties that were accessed by the now lava-covered Rt. 137. Currently, there are only a handful of properties that have not been completely inundated by the lava and unfortunately, residents do not have access to their still standing homes. 
  • Kapoho Kai Water Association (KKWA) is an organization that manages a portion of VHCA members water supply. ​
  • Kapoho Beach Community Association (KBCA) is a homeowner association and consists of approximately 200 properties that were accessed by the now lava-covered Rt. 137. ​
  • Leilani Estates (LCA) is a homeowner association that prior to eruption, LCA contained 2,046 one-acre properties containing 721 permitted dwellings with a number also under construction. The subdivision includes sixteen paved roadways having a total length of 21.55 miles owned and maintained by the HOA.  Leilani Ave, a Hawaii County Road, traversed the center of the development 3.03 miles long and connecting Hwy. 130 with Pohoiki Road.  Post-eruption, 709 properties have been inundated resulting in the loss of 254 permitted dwellings. 
  • Kapoho Land Partnership and Kapoho Land & Development Co. largest land owner in the affected area. 
  • Kapoho Crater / Green Mountain​ second largest land owner in the affected area. 
  • Kipuka Group is a group of individuals whose homes and land remain untouched by lava but currently have no access to their still standing homes and land. Over 50 properties still remain and were accessed by the now lava covered portions of Rt. 132, Rt. 137 and Pohoiki Road. 
  • Cape Kumukahi Foundation (CKF) is associated with Vacationland. CKF played a key role in supporting research in the Tide Pool areas and seeks to continue to be involved in Vacationland initiatives and associated marine science. We hope to augment our community’s viability with the establishment of park/natural areas likely under the aegis of the CKF. ​​
Credit: Drew Daniels

LOWER KAPOHO BASELINE SURVEY. INITIATED ON JANUARY 22, 2019 and COMPLETED MARCH 22, 2019
Survey Results (Survey conducted of property owners in Vacationland Farm & House Lots and Kapoho Beach Lots)

According to County Real Property Tax Office, there are 516 Lots in Kapoho Vacationland and Kapoho Beach Lots. There are 448 unique individual owners of these lots. 

We received 97 responses by lot (19% of total lots) and 71 responses (16% of total owners).            
This represents a 90% Confidence Level w/ 10% Margin of Error (required a minimum of 59 responses from owners). 
 
Kapoho Beachlots: 18 responses
Vacationland House Lots: 50 responses
Vacationland Farm Lots: 25 responses
Other: 4*
​*Other includes two responders who built on friend or family’s properties within the 3 subdivisions, a response from Ko`a`e (Papaya Farms Rd) and another response from an isolated area towards the bottom of Hwy 132.
Methodology:
This survey was conducted via email over a two-month period. An initial list of nearly 100 email addresses were acquired from the membership of Vacationland and Beach lots. News of the survey spread via word of mouth and social media posts to local Puna Relief recovery pages. The survey was posted on the Imua Lower Puna website. The data has been collated using Google Survey software and verified using Excel. Contact information for each responder was collected along with address and TMK of the affected property, email & mailing addresses, and phone number. Comments submitted with the survey are provided separately and anonymously on the Community blog.
Instructions Provided: Kumukahi/Hwy #137 Makai Area Access/Recovery Survey
A group of residents from the Kumukahi /HWY #137 Makai Area are working together on eruption recovery planning. FEMA funds & Small Business Administration loans may be available to Homeowner Associations to re-establish roads. We are asking for your input to best serve the needs & desires of our community. Please complete this survey. 
Please distribute to community members you may know.
Picture
Credit: Dane Dupont, Hawaii Tracker
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