Landmark's greenery hurting
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
Six years of drought and long, hot summer days are taking their toll on the vegetation along the state's most famous landmark.
A stand of about 30 trees the city planted about a year ago along Diamond Head Road on the Kahala side of Diamond Head Crater struggles to survive.
In response, the Outdoor Circle plans to alert the city's Urban Forestry division to the trees' conditions in hopes of getting a water truck out to help them, said Kimberly Hillebrand, landscape and planting project manager.
"They look like they've not been watered enough," she said.
But even advocates acknowledge that the drought is difficult to contend with.
"You can't do anything about the dryness," said Cynthia Marnie, a member of the Diamond Head Advisory Committee, a group of citizens working to preserve the landmark. "We have a real drought. Diamond Head is as dry as I've ever seen it, even with the rain we've had."
The city says it has been working hard at maintaining the landmark. In addition to the trees, it has been attempting to green up the Kuilei Cliffs park that provides access to the ocean from Diamond Head Road. The community had tried to make the vegetation a priority by using vision money in 2002 for landscaping and a sprinkler system.
But the city's Department of Parks and Recreation says $80,000 allocated was not enough, so the city is doing the work on the sprinkler system. Bill Balfour, city Department of Parks and Recreation director, said half of the irrigation work has been completed. The other half and some landscaping should be complete in the next couple of months, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.
"We have been suffering from a drought for six years," Costa said. "Withering trees have been a problem in this area, but city parks officials are working on this as quickly as possible."
Hillebrand said some of the trees could be dying for other reasons besides a lack of water.
Meanwhile, east of the beach park, the surfers' garden is lush and green. Surfers have connected lengths of garden hoses and each morning come out and tend to the plantings.
City officials say the park is properly maintained, but some residents complain about conditions there.
"This is not the way kiawe trees should look," Hillebrand said. "Kiawe trees are drought-resistant trees — that's why they're growing wild on the other side of the street. Water would help."
The stand of new trees on the eastern slope of Diamond Head are kou and silver buttonwoods, Hillebrand said. They are drought-tolerant trees, but they look limp.
"One of the main responsibilities of the Outdoor Circle is to find answers to questions from the public and see if we can help in any way," she said.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
