Hillside water tank downsized
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
WAI'ALAE IKI — Concerns about visual blight have made the Honolulu Board of Water Supply back off from its plan to install a 4-million-gallon reservoir on land above Kalani High School and instead use a smaller tank.
As initially proposed, the reservoir would have been seen from several vantage points, including the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawai'i. Because of that, the water utility has opted to go with a 3-million-gallon tank, said Bert Kuioka, project manager for the Wai'alae 180 reservoir.
"Now you have to really look for the reservoir," Kuioka said. "It will (look) much the same way, with a vegetation screen in front."
A smaller tank also means the Board of Water Supply will not have to touch two archaeological sites containing human remains. Rather than disturb the remains, the utility has opted to preserve the burial caves.
The water board says the larger tank would have helped to address a 55 million-gallon storage deficit in the Honolulu service area. While users have no problem getting water now, an increase in storage capacity will help ensure availability and stabilize water pressure, the board has said.
There are more than 20 water tanks in the Honolulu district, which runs from Hawai'i Kai to Salt Lake. The newest one was built 10 years ago above the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and is the 4 million gallon size, Kuioka said. Other tanks in Honolulu range in capacity from 1 million to 3 million gallons.
Residents like Sherry Spangler think the bigger tank would have been bad for Wai'alae Iki. She and others worried that you would see not only the tank but also the access road off Kalaniana'ole Highway.
She has been concerned also about traffic disruption by the trucks, as well as rockslides.
"It'll be the ratepayers who will have to pay for the liability if there's a rockslide," said Spangler, who lives in the Golf Course subdivision across from the site and is on the Kuli'ou'ou/Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board.
"The Board of Water Supply's soil study doesn't look at the road, but just where the bigger reservoir will be.
"The rumble and vibration of the trucks will cause the unstable soil to slide."
The water board says the project is not on its six-year improvement plan. The project, estimated to cost $8.5 million and take almost two years, still must undergo an environmental study and a public hearing process, Kuioka said.
"We want to make the right decision because there are some people who are strongly opposed to the project," Kuioka said. "We want to take a close look at the engineer's study before we fund it."
Spangler said the water tank is a key issue in this community.
"It's important to stop the process here before they harden behind a weak position," Spangler said.
"The hillside is important to the look and feel of the community."
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
