HAU'ULA — The state is taking action to avert a flooding problem for residents near the Kaluanui Stream that flows through Sacred Falls State Park.

The meandering stream hadn't been a problem until the historic 40 days of rain last year that caused flooding in windward communities from Ka'a'awa to Hau'ula. Since then, any heavy rain has sent flood waters into neighboring properties and homes, said David Hee, whose home was flooded when the stream overflowed last year and again this year.

"The thing is it never flooded before, not once," Hee said.

That changed since 2006 when a storm stalled over the island and dropped a record amount of water on the community, Hee said.

"The neighbor, they flooded out three times in one week. They lost everything."

Hee said when officials didn't seem to care he threatened to sue. Now he's glad something is being done because when the stream overflowed last month the water was four feet deep coming off the banks.

Officials from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources toured the problem area yesterday to assess it and determine if concrete barriers might help.

On the tour were DLNR engineers, a park administrator, a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), who asked for the tour.

Eric Hirano, DLNR chief engineer, said about 30 to 34 6-foot concrete barriers are available. The plan is to place them so they turn the water back onto its old path.

"There used to be a natural berm which kept the water from overflowing at the bend," Hirano said. "The 2006 heavy rain blew it away."

The group went upstream about 300 yards where the stream turns about 90 degrees as it flows away from the affected homes and out to sea. But at the bend the water has eaten away some of the bank as if to go straight. Any water heading down the straight path will flow over the banks and flood the surrounding area.

Steve Yamamoto, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the streams like to meander but when there's a big storm like the one in 2006 the stream tries to go straight.

Yamamoto, project manager for an ongoing flood hazard study for Punalu'u and Hau'ula, said money has been requested for 2008 to study Kaluanui Stream to determine the problems and come up with possible solutions.

The cost of the barrier project would be minimal because the state already has the barriers and only needs to hire a contractor to grade the area and put the barriers in place, Hirano said, adding that it can be done in two to three weeks.

"I'm going to ask the contractor to really jam it," Hirano said. "We can't second guess Mother Nature. We don't know when the next storm front will be coming."

The money for the project will come from emergency funds provided by the Legislature after the 2006 storm for this type of project, said Sen. Hee.

Sen. Hee said the barriers won't prevent flooding during extreme rain but will help mitigate it.

"At least as a stop-gap measure this will save hundreds of thousands of dollars in property loss," Hee said. "This will help buy some time while the Army Corps looks at long-term solutions in conjunction with the Department of Land and Natural Resources."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.