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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, July 29, 2005

Waikane flood problem a jurisdictional logjam

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz points out to Jose and Pat Royos where the city is prepared to spend $250,000 to clear its half of a Waikane stream so it won't overflow into traffic. A state agency that co-owns the stream says it can't afford to do the same.
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WAIKANE — Part of Waikane's frequent flooding problem stems from a tree-choked stream that overflows during heavy rains. But the stream, which has no name, has two owners, and that has complicated efforts to solve the problem.

The city is prepared to spend $250,000 to clear its half of the stream in hopes of resolving the perennial flooding problem on Kamehameha Highway between Waikane Store and Waiahole Beach Park. The Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i, which is responsible for the other half of the stream, has declined to participate in the project.

The unnamed stream flows under the highway and joins Waikane Stream on the makai side of the highway.

The state agency splits ownership of the stream down the middle with the city; each owns land along the stream's banks. In a July 7 letter, HCDCH said it could not participate in the project because it lacks the money, equipment and manpower.

City and state officials are meeting next week to find a way to address the problem.

So far the city's Department of Design and Construction and the state Department of Transportation have agreed to clear portions of the the stream that are choked with hau trees.

FORCED TO BACKTRACK

Area residents say closing the highway affects thousands of people. During heavy rains, floodwaters often cause the highway to be closed. Some years, water reportedly has risen as high as auto headlights. People must backtrack through Hale'iwa to get into town.

Last year the city spent $132,400 to remove trees that were clogging the mouth of Waikane Stream in an attempt to reduce flooding there. The project has reduced some of the flooding but not all of it.

Pat Royos, 59, who has lived in the area all of her life, said the road floods every year and she's glad that something is finally getting done.

"This should have been done a long time ago," she said. "We shouldn't wait until something drastic happens."

City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, 2nd (Wahiawa, North Shore, 'Ahuimanu), introduced a resolution in June asking HCDCH to clear and clean the portions of Waikane Stream, the adjacent unnamed stream and the watersheds between Waiahole and Waikane owned by the corporation. Resolution O5-222 is with the Committee of Public Works and Economic Development and is expected to be heard Wednesday.

"It's a huge concern that HCDCH is not at the table," Dela Cruz said during a visit to the flood-prone area Monday. "They're just saying let the city deal with it."

But an HCDCH official said the agency is willing to discuss options and its executive director, Stephanie Aveiro, will meet with the city next week.

'NOT A CLOSED ISSUE'

Pamela Dodson, executive assistant for HCDCH, which manages about 600 acres and 92 farm and residential leases in Wai-ahole and Waikane valleys, said the stream needs to be cleaned there but the agency has no money for it. But there might be other ways for HCDCH to help, Dodson said.

"It's not a closed issue," she said. "If the city comes back and wants a right of entry, of course we can grant that and whatever we can work out with them."

The project also calls for the city Department of Parks and Recreation to create a berm on the mauka side of Waikane Stream near the highway to keep the water from overflowing its banks. The department also will remove an illegal footbridge that traps debris on Waikane Stream.

Maraea Kaniho, who lives in 'Ahuimanu and works in Ka'a'awa, said the project sounds like a temporary fix.

Last year's clearing helped, Kaniho said, but during recent rains, water was standing on the road. That day, Kaniho said, she had dropped her son at Ka'a'awa Elementary School and considered turning back to wait for him to get out in three hours. It was that or risk a road closure and her son having to wait hours for her to travel around the island to pick him up, she said.

"I'm on the road and I'm thinking I should turn around and just wait at the school," Kaniho said. "I was hoping I could get back. It's driving me crazy."

Kaniho wants a permanent fix, possible raising the road, she said.

The DOT said that would only add to the problem.

People have asked the state to raise the highway before but that would only cause greater flooding in the area, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman.

"Raising the road can create a dam-like effect and that can cause more flooding problems for the homeowners," he said.

COMPLICATIONS

The DOT does regular maintenance of its bridges and highway easements, according to Ishikawa, who said the problem might not be resolved just with a stream-clearing.

"The reality is the area is 6 inches above sea level," Ishikawa said. "When you have high tide and you have a flooding condition coming off the mountain, you may have problems."

The city agreed more is needed to end the problem and it has been in touch with federal officials to work on a solution, Dela Cruz said. If the Army Corps of Engineers agrees to find a solution and finance it, as much as 75 percent of the cost would be covered by federal money, he said.

John Reppun, a resident of Waiahole for decades, predicted that more work would have to be done to get a permanent fix and he's hoping the various departments can pool their resources to accomplish that.

"This one is a very, very high priority because it holds the whole Windward coast hostage," Reppun said.