HONOLULU -- The state land director admitted on Thursday that there is no record that the state ever inspected the Kaloko Reservoir, which breached on Tuesday and swept away as many as seven people.

State law requires dam owners to maintain them, but the state land department is responsible for inspection. The state said on Thursday that it is beginning an inspection process that critics said should have begun before the tragedy.

Since Tuesday, KITV and other news media have been asking when the state last inspected the Kaloko Reservoir. The answer finally came on Thursday.

"The state has not inspected it. But, I'm not sure about any other inspections have happened. That's the concern," state land director Peter Young said.

There was no inspection despite a request for inspection last month relayed by the Sierra Club. That's also despite widely reported illegal grading near the reservoir years ago by owner Jimmy Pflueger, who denies the work caused the flood.

The state is now drafting a letter to reservoir owners, reminding them of their responsibility and demanding they assess potential flood damage.

Environmentalists said many reservoirs are in inexperienced hands after the demise of the sugar industry. At the same time they point out that counties allowed homes to be built in the reservoirs danger zones.

"That combined with lack of funding to DLNR to monitor these things leads to disaster," said Jeff Mikulina, of the Sierra Club.

The governor did not promise to beef up inspections or force land use changes.

While politicians may not be willing to say it, Civil Defense officials said more has to be done to prevent people from building in the path potential floods.

"We have got to look at that issue as citizens across the state," said Ed Teixeira, of the state Civil Defense.

Meanwhile, the state said some reservoir owners learning about their responsibility may dismantle their dams. The state said in many cases that will be a good idea.