Hawaii’s Water Battle
As you drive through the lush and peaceful valley of Waiahole, you will notice handmade signs up along the fence protesting the Waiahole irrigation ditch reading; “Stop stealing the water from our streams.” The battle for water between leeward Oahu landowners and the Waiahole farmers has been going on for nineteen years. Since 1916 the water of Waiahole has been diverted through the ditch, depleting the natural streams on the Windward side of Oahu. The Waiahole water ditch created major controversy due to its negative impact on Windward Oahu’s ecosystem. The Waiahole stream is a vital connection between the upper mountain water catchments, the farming community in the valley, and the mingling of the nutrient rich lo’i water with the Kaneohe Bay and its aquatic inhabitants. The diversion of too much water through the Waiahole irrigation ditch has been detrimental to both the Waiahole’s and Waikane’s ecosystem as well as Kaneohe’s Bay, however, there are reasonable solutions to the problem that Hawaii can implemented.
Completed in 1916, the Waiahole irrigation ditch was the most ambitious of its time stretching 25 miles long from Kahana Valley to Kunia (Omandam). The Waiahole irrigation ditch was proposed by J.B. Lippincott a water-engineer for the Oahu Sugar Company’s crop the sugar cane grown on the Ewa plains (Wilcox, 65). The Waiahole water ditch utilizes natural ditchs by intercepting water. The water starts in Kahana at an elevation of 790ft. and is channeled through tunnels by gravity as it makes its way down to the leeward side (Omandam). The Waiahole ditch is almost entirely made up of tunnels. Besides the main one there are 38 others. The shortest is 280 ft. and the longest is 339 feet ( Wilcox,67). With the construction of the ditch for the Sugar industry shifted the water from being in a public trust to being privatized (“Maui Farmer’s Union Meeting 2/28/12”). The privatization of water leads to different lookout water, one where it was unlimited resource that could be squandered (Omandam).
Controversy began stirred between big leeward landowners and Waiahole farmers fought over the rights of water when the Sugar industry close in 1995 because it could no longer competed on a global market. After they closed the race for water began between the landowners such as Castle & Cooke and Campbell Estate against the Waiahole farmers. They all put their names down for the water and the case was taken to court. Needless to say the Waiahole farmers won the case, however there would many more cases and most of them the landowners would win ( Wilcox, 67). With recreational and development coming into the picture for the water use it painted a whole new set of problems and controversies that come with it.
The Waiahole streams are important to the Waiahole and Waikane community because of the importance resources they give with nutritious crops and animals in the valley. To ancient Hawaiians water was one of the forms of the god Kane one of four major deities. Kane was the god was of all living creatures appearing in all forms on water from; rain to river and ocean. To the ancient Hawaiians the Waiahole streams were concerned sacred because it was a form of Kane and the fact that it provide water for the kalo, the staple crop of the time ( “ Stolen Waters”). The Waiahole steams are still concerned sacred and precious by the residents of the community.
As a result of water being diverted for years, residents of Waiahole and Waikane community became vexed and took their case to court. In a proposal to the court by Waiahole farmers to have four million gallons returned back into the streams for taro the court rejected their request (Kobayashi). Waiahole farmers this time went up against the Puu Makakilo Inc. who wanted they water for a golf course they planned on building. The court favored the Puu Makakilo Inc. for their golf course giving those 750,000 gallons a day. All too often the court favors the big landowners without looking the initial cost it will bring to the environment in the long-term. The court often favors the big landowners because they were generating more money than the farmers as this sometimes hurts in the long-run. When the court found out that they were not going through with the golf course but still using the water the court took back the water and gave it to the farmers (Kobayashi).
Similarly in another court case the Waiahole farmers went up against a wealthy landowner who diverted 80 percent of the stream water for urban use. When the Waiahole farmers demanded the water to be returned to the stream the landowner’s lawyer told them it was their fault the streams were going dry. Their lack of water the lawyer said was caused by them not keeping up with ‘auwai ( irrigation ditch) (Lee). In 2000 the irrigation was pumping out 27 million gallons to Leeward leaving a toll of the environment. The Supreme Court of Hawaii decide in August of 2000 to divide the 27 million gallons up 14.03 million gallons went to leeward agriculture and non- agriculture, 6.97 million went towards agriculture revere and buffer for later use and six million went to restore the streams. ( Paul,p. 1) The six million gallons was a great start to restoring the stream but it should not stop there.
As a consequence of over diversion of the water it has left a devastating impact on the environment as a whole. After the ditch was built, the Waiahole streams went from 30 million gallons of water to only three million gallons. Still, other streams in the valley went from having seven million gallons per day to one and a half million gallon per day. This drastic water depletion has led to more than two dozen stream on Windward Oahu disappearing altogether. (“Stolen Waters”) When the water started disappearing, marine life went, as well. A whole ecosystem was being destroyed and the landowners such as Campbell Estate did not even care.
Furthermore, with the decline of water flow in the streams meant losing organisms that make their home in the streams as well as those that live in the ocean. The Waiahole streams are home to ‘o’opu,’opae, hihiwae with the decline of water organism, have been forced to leave. In the film “Stolen Waters” about the ditch’s impact on the environment, longtime resident and farmer of Waiahole, Charlie Reppunn spoken out on the Waiahole ditch he, “reported that when the water was returned to Waiahole there was a re-population of native fish”. Charlie Reppunn’s statement shows the impact that water can have on the ecosystem when it is loss or returned.
Similarly the decline of water has not only affected organism in the streams but those in the ocean as well. As a result many of the fish in Kaneohe’s Bay have left ( “ Stolen Waters”). This is because Kaneohe Bay is an estuary. An estuary is where the fresh water mixes in with the seawater. Many animals depend on the estuary which needs the water from Waiahole streams. Estuaries are important as nurseries along with being sources of nutrition to other ecosystem (Cox). The Waiahole streams starts from the mountains are nutrition base providing many organisms that live in the streams and oceans nutritious they need. The streams picks up nutrition from the taro as it flows through watering the plants before heading out to the ocean. The water from Waiahole streams plays a big part in the ecosystem without it starts it fell apart.
As a outcome of the Waiahole irrigation ditch causing controversy between landowners and the farmers of the Waiahole community and what they thought should be done about the water problem, three proposals for the ditch arise. The first is to cement the ditch off and keep all the water on the Waiahole. This plan is just impossible to happen besides being little too extreme. The Waiahole water ditch provides thousands of jobs on the Leeward side. Without the ditch many companies and farmers would be out of business (Winpenny). A Mililani cucumber and spinach farmed named Zeune Beccam told the Star- Bulletin in 1997 that, “Without the Waiahole ditch they would be without water.” (Omandam). Cutting off the water completely would just cause more problems than it would be worth. Cementing the ditch off would be great for the streams and the Windward side but it would cause devastation for leeward and central Oahu. Millions of dollars would be loss in profit for companies that work for and /or the with the ditch depending on it.
Without the ditch to provide water, farmers like Beccam that sell their food in grocery stores and farmers markets will be without a job. Hawaii will become increasingly more dependent on exported food despite having farming in the Windward side. Cementing the ditch would cause harm to Hawaii’s economy this would be loss/ loss situation it help for little bit but would cause more harm than good for Hawaii. With might have been in option back in the 1920s are so but we have come too far and dependent too much on the ditch to get rid of it for good.
In contracts to the first option of cementing the ditch the second option is just the opposite in their approach to it. The second option is to leave the Irrigation ditch just the way it is and do nothing. This option is commonly used by our politicians who do not want to spend money on the ditch to improve the environment and decrease cost in the long run. The second option is often thought has the best option but it only because that is all we have known. The ditch has cost the state an estimated over $65 million in replacement cost over the years ( Wilcox,69). This shows that the Waiahole ditch is not the most cost effected method as a stainable solution to our problem and instead other solution should be looked into.
Additionally, “In 2001 the ditch had several problems one of them being a leaky reservoir that loss over 70,000 gallons a day” and yet the Honolulu Board of Water Supply wanted to divert more water. ( Wilcox 67) However, it has been use as a means to take advance of the water for big companies buy the water cheaply or without charge by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. As a result of buying inexpensive water these companies often waste the water and take too much, overlooking the environmental factors. The diversions of the water have left many of Hawaii’s streams either with significantly reduce water or dried up completely. The diversion of water for years has hurt the ecosystem of Waiahole and the rest of the Windward side along with their farmers.
In contrast of the first two options the third option for the irrigation ditch takes a slightly different angle of addressing the problems by finding solutions. The third option is to have a portion of the water continue to flow to Leeward but have majority of the water stay in Waiahole Valley. The force for this option is to use solutions and alterative water sources that can be used on the Leeward side. By having the majority of the water stay in stream it will help with ecosystem and environment but what about all the companies and farmers will they enough water. Companies already have to fill out documents declaring why they need the water and how much water they use annually. They summit document to the Department of Land and Natural Resources who then reviews it to see if they can use the water. Everyday 24 million gallon is release by the water Resource Management to the Leeward. (Omandam). If the water amount is decrease too fast and too much it could be devastating for Leeward.
Moreover, while doing research of Waiahole Water ditch, I found that topics on ditch proposal changes were extremely limited. The ones I did find came out the same three options I just mentioned. However, after researching what other countries did to solve their problem I realized that there are a lots of different options that are not being looked into. Singapore also faced challenges with their water but is recognized today as a model city for water management. They have three ways in which they have solved their problem. The solutions are use local water catchment, NE water and desalinated water ( “ The Singapore Water Story”). Local catchment is capturing rainwater to use, which anyone can do. NE water is band of Singapore water that uses reclaimed water. Reclaimed water is water that has been treated from a water treatment plants by purifying until it is potable. Desalinated water is seawater that has gone through treatment to make it also potable. Hawaii should look into and research the solutions that Singapore has used so that we implement it here. The solution can be done and everyone will benefit from it.
Before these solutions can be implemented there needs to be more research done on the Waiahole water ditch and the possible solutions that could be done. Most of the water coming from the Waiahole water ditch is not used for drinking instead it is used for agriculture, development and recreational. The water we drink comes from underground wells. Although potable water is not really the problem here but it could be it the future so it good to know about. The solution that would be best for Oahu is having a Desalinated plant or recycles the water that way leeward could have more of their own freshwater and decrease dependence on the ditch. Some recycling water methods that homeowners can do are converting their grey water over to water their plants saving both water and money. In the website grey water irrigation they defined grey water as “the wastewater produced from baths and showers, clothes washers, and lavatories. “ (Greywater irrigation). Leeward could still have water coming from the Waiahole ditch only the amount would be lot less because they would not need as much.
Hawaii already has some of the tools and a resource to increase leeward’s sustainability in their water source. There is already a desalination plant in Campbell industrial park but it is underutilized. What we need to do now is to find a way to unitized the desalination plants and other resources we have to decrease water dependence
In conclusion, the completion of the Waiahole irrigation was great fleet of engineering accomplishment that change the way water was transported and use, however, it came with its own set of new problems, social, environmental and political that had to be worked out. The Waiahole irrigation ditch shows the common problem that development have when I over looks certain concerns for the sake of money, harming both the community and environment. The problem of water rights is seen all over the world, but what many of us do not realize is that it is in our own backyard. The problems the Waiahole irrigation causes need to be addressed and improved to help Hawaii as whole. We need to start looking at longer term effects of the ditch and what can be done that everyone can agree on.
Work Cited
Cox, Evelyn. “Estuaries.” Zoology 200 University of Hawaii at West Oahu. 16 April 2014. Lecture.
Daysog,Rick. “ Exclusive: Ellsion moves ahead with desalination plant.” 12 July 2013. Web. 22 April 2014 http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/22831001/exclusive-lanai-desalination-plant-moves-ahead
“ Energy Efficient Osmosis Desalination Process.” Table 1 International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol.3 No. 4, August 2012
“Graywater irrigation.” Sustainable sources. http://greywater.sustainablesources.com/ Web. 29 April 2014
Henthorne.Lisa. “ The current State of Desalination.” Presented at the IDA World Congress, Dubai, UAE - November 2009 web 17 April 2014
Kjeldsen, Lara. “Reconsideration of Waiahole Irrigation Ditches Allocations.” Presented to Hawaii Commission on Water Resources Management. 1999.
Kobayashi, Ken. “Court Rebuff Waiahole Water Challenges.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 15 October 2010. Web. 4 February 2014 < http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101015_Court_rebuffs_Waiahole_water_challenges.html>
Lee, Pilamo’o V. Ho’ika Wai: The Waiahole Stream Restoration. University of Hawaii Press. 1997
“ Maui Farmer’s Union Meeting 2/28/12.” Isaac Moriwake of Earthjustice. Na Wai Eha web. 9 April 2014. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY1Be1r4pB4>
Omandam, Pat. “Rough Water Ahead.” Honolulu Star-Belletin. 25 April 1997. Web 14 March 2014 < http://archives.starbulletin.com/97/04/25/news/story1.html>
Paul James. “ The August, 2000 Hawaii Supreme Court Waiahole Ditch Decision: Comments and experts regarding the public trust Doctrine.” Counsel of Hawaii’s Thousand Friends. September 2001. Web. 22 April 2014 http://www.hawaii.edu/ohelo/pleadings/WaiholeSummary.pdf
“ Stolen Water.” Puhi pau, Joan Lander, Na Maka O Ka ‘Aina. Native Hawaiian Advisory Council.
1996 web 12 April 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lswtBIjVlbI
“ The Singapore Water Story.” PUB Singapore’s national water agency. http://www.pub.gov.sg/products/NEWater/Pages/default.aspx Web 16 April 2014
Winpenny, Jeme. “ Local Green on the Menu Need water from O’ahu’s Streams.” The Hawaii Independent. 17 June 2011 Web 11 February
Wilcox, Carol. Sugar Water Hawaii’s Plantation Ditches. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press. 1996
