‘Ōlelo No‘eau

Ola i ka wai a ka ʻōpua

There is life in the water from the clouds.

Uē ka lani, ola ka honua

When heaven cries, the land lives.

Huʻea na kai i pihaʻā moe wai o uka

Washed to the sea is debris of upland streams.

Ka lepo ke kumu wai, e huaʻi ana ka lepo kai

When the source of water is dirty, the dirt is carried to the sea.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to learn about the water cycle in Hawaii and the specific conditions of our freshwater resources.
2. Students will be able to identify and apply Hawaiian cultural beliefs, management practices, and traditional ecological knowledge about freshwater resources.
3. Students will be able to identify the major sources of point and non-point pollution, as well as other threats to the clean water supply in Hawaii.

Water is Life

Water is life. The human body is primarily water. Humans need a daily supply of  fresh, clean water to survive, and yet we have done a poor job of keeping our limited fresh water supply clean. In the US, about half of all our rivers and one third of our lakes are too dirty to swim in, fish in, or drink^[1]. In addition, we are often using aquifers faster than they can be replenished and many dams in the US West are at their lowest levels since they were built decades ago with the ongoing drought. Freshwater is renewable but can takes thousands of years to replenish.

In order to understand water, we need to understand the hydrological cycle. Water from rains flows into streams, but also soaks into the ground, replenishing underground aquifers which are water stored in permeable rocks. In Hawaii, each island has a large underground aquifer where a lens of freshwater floats on top of denser salt water that intrudes from the ocean. The coral reefs around the edges of the island act as caps that keep freshwater in place. When reefs are blasted for harbor entrances, huge plumes of freshwater flow out into the ocean. This can also lead to saltwater intrusion into the aquifer. If we pump too much freshwater, salt water can rise up, making some wells turn brackish. Harder, denser  veins of the volcanic basalt that forms most of the island, called dikes, can also serve as dams underground, storing freshwater in some places. Horizontal tunnels into the mountain can release this water from the dikes and provide clean drinking water in some parts of the island.

Wells are dug into the mountains to collect water from the aquifers and water is taken from streams for agriculture and other purposes. In Hawaii, the distribution of rainfall is highly dependent on the prevailing winds patterns. The tradewinds are the most prevalent and they blow from the northeast bringing clouds and rain to the windward sides of all the islands, while the leeward sides are significantly drier. Some smaller islands like Ni’ihau and Lana’i are in the rain shadow of larger mountains, Waialeale and Haleakala, and the entire islands experience precipitation patterns typical of leeward sides.  On a typical day on Oahu, 2 billion gallons of water will fall as rain. A drop that falls on the top of the mountain can take up to 25 years to percolate through the soil into the aquifer. Water is an infinitely renewable resource, as long as all of the many pieces of the cycle are maintained.

During the plantation era, tunnels were dug through the mountains to collect water from the windward sides on all of the islands and move it to the leeward where it could be used to water sugar cane and pineapple plantations. There have been numerous legal battles on all of the island over these water rights, as former plantations have stopped growing crops but also tried to retain water rights for urban development and other purposes. On Oahu, the fight over the Waiahole ahupua’a lasted for years until a portion of the water was finally returned to local farmers, allowing them to continue growing taro.

Since then, tourism has replaced agriculture as the state’s primary industry. This has led to increased population and urbanization on the leeward sides, which are sunnier and seen as more suitable for the development of hotels. As streams pass through urban areas they are channeled into concrete canals, destroying the natural curves and growth of plants along the borders. This generally means that streams flow faster and pick up more pollutants by the time they reach the ocean, which impacts the reefs. In addition, large areas of impervious surfaces like parking lots, roads, the roofs of buildings can all lead to water to run off quicker and not soak into the ground. The non-profit, Hui o Ko’olaupoko is working to improve the water quality of Kaneohe Bay on Oahu by building rain gardens, which collect this run off water and allow it to soak into the ground, replenishing aquifers instead of running into storm drains and out to the ocean where it will damage reefs.

Environmental scientists distinguish between two types of water pollution–point and nonpoint source. Point source pollution comes from a single source, like a discharge pipe from a factory or sewage treatment plant. These can be relatively easily identified and stopped. Non-point sources of pollution come from diverse sources. For instance, when older cars drive on the road and leak oils, coolants, or other chemicals these sit on the roadways until a large rainstorm washes them into storm drains and out into streams and eventually the ocean. This is an example of nonpoint pollution. When we are trying to maintain water quality we need to think about both seriously.

Although there is not a lot of industrial activity in Hawaii, the existing industries are responsible for some pollutants. Agricultural run-off of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides can also have negative impacts on water quality. Fertilizers can increase algal growth in water which then uses all of the oxygen in the water, leading to a process known as eutrophication and large dead zones where life can’t be supported.

Although Hawaii is surrounded by saltwater, the desalination process, to remove the salt from seawater, is expensive and energy intensive, and is not an acceptable option to avoid the care and management of our freshwater resources. Desalination plants can also impact the marine ecosystems where the water is withdrawn.

However in many areas particularly in drier western states of the United States, water is being withdrawn faster than it can be replenished and aquifers are shrinking rapidly. Over the long term, this is not sustainable. Eventually, if management does not improve, the available water may be insufficient to support the current populations, even at significantly lower usage rates.

Overuse of water is being exacerbated by long term drought conditions. Rainfall patterns in the Western US and the Pacific are changing as a result of global climate change. In 2022, we are now in the middle of a 22 year drought, the worst one in the last 1,200 years.^[2] It is unclear how long it will last and what kind of impacts it will have on agriculture, forest fires, and related ecosystems over the next several decades. These changing global systems mean that we need to begin now to adapt to living with less water and less predictability in our water systems. In order to do this, we can learn from traditional Hawaiian knowledge about water management.

Water and Environmental Justice

Often those without access to clean drinking water are those who are socially marginalized. In rural California, almost a million people in numerous small rural communities have been left without water as their wells dry up or are contaminated.^[3] Another example is the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan which began in 2014 when the city switched from getting its drinking water from Detroit to the Flint River in order to save money. The Flint river was an industrial dumping ground and had a long history of pollution and neglect. Water from the river was more corrosive, leaching out the lead from old pipes and creating a public health crisis. Later contaminated water from the river led to an outbreak of Legionnaires disease and was found with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Residents, largely African American and low income, immediately began to complain about the brown and foul smelling water coming from their taps but were routinely ignored by local and state officials.^[4]

Residents came together and organized, working with larger environmental and social organizations to call out the government negligence. The Federal EPA failed to act and finally a lawsuit led to a court ruling in November of 2016 that required the city and state to provide bottled water to residents and install filters in the faucets. A later court victory ruled that the city needs to replace the lead pipes and upgrade the water systems. This is slowly happening as criminal and civil lawsuits continue, trying to hold those who mismanaged the crisis responsible.

The case of Flint illustrates several key issues. There is a need to upgrade aging water infrastructure across the country. We need to work on cleaning up our limited fresh water supplies and local residents need to be listened to and taken seriously. The racial discrimination is a key component that allowed this crisis to develop in the ways that it did and we need to recognize and address racial disparities in access to clean air and water.

Fossil fuels production and transportation is often a direct threat to water quality. Oil spills from tankers or drilling platforms can pollute oceans, killing wildlife and destroying ecosystems. The Exxon Valdez is Alaska and the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico are two dramatic examples of the extensive damages of oil production, but smaller spills happen constantly.

More recently, pipelines are being built to transport crude oil from where it is extracted to refineries. These pipelines transport hundreds of thousands of gallons daily and are constantly leaking, threatening rivers, streams, and lakes along the way. In the US, many of these pipelines cross over native American lands taken without their permission, in breach of established treaties. The Standing Rock Sioux made headlines at the beginning of 2016 as they protested the Energy Transfer Partner’s plan to build the Dakota Access Pipeline (or DAPL). As they camped out to protest the DAPL and raised awareness of the issue on social media, indigenous groups and environmental activists came from across the country to lend support. The pipeline threatens to pollute rivers used for drinking water, fishing, and sacred landscapes of the Sioux people. Native Hawaiian activists participated in the DAPL protests.^[5]

Eventually the camp was violently cleared by police representing corporate interests and the pipeline was built. Since then it has already leaked multiple times and there are ongoing lawsuits to force a more comprehensive environmental review and to protect tribal sovereignty. Indigenous communities are often on the front line against environmental destruction as they fight to protect their traditional lands and rights to hunt and gather on the landscape. Climate change, energy policy, environmental justice, water pollution are all connected as large corporations with the support of government work to make profits while destroying the planet.

Hawaiian Water Management

For Hawaiians, fresh water, or wai, was the source of wealth, waiwai. The land management system of ahupua’a, established in the 16th century by O’ahu King Ma’ilikukahi, managed land in pie shaped segments that ran from the nearshore reefs up into the mountains. These cross sections of the island provided residents with a variety of different resources from different ecological zones but also managed areas that were often ecologically connected as part of a watershed. What happens upstream impacts the quality of the reefs and fishing resources. By managing watersheds, the productive capacity of land and ocean could be maintained.

The lo’i (pondfield) system for growing taro required cool flowing water to pass through a series of flooded pondfield of kalo (taro). On the banks of other crops like bananas and sugarcane were grown and inside the ponds themselves, fish were raised. These agroecological systems used ecological principles to maintain productivity. Ponds were fed by ‘auwai, or canals dug to move water around, some of them several miles long. Some of these lo’i complexes are still being used today, meaning that they have maintained soil productivity in the same area for hundreds of years.

The Hawaiian kapu system regulated what kind of activities could be done where, and where water was taken from the stream for different purposes. Mo’o, or divine lizard creatures, often guarded certain bodies of water like ponds, wetlands, and pools. When people misused or polluted these resources, the mo’o would punish them for their disrespect. The Kawainui Marsh in Kailua, Oahu used to be used as a fishpond and lo’i was guarded by the mo’o Huawahine who would remove the fish if people didn’t properly care for and respect the area.

Water Issues in Hawaii

One of the biggest threats to water quality in Hawaii is sewage. We tend not to think about what happens after we flush the toilet but unfortunately sewage does not simply disappear.  In most urban areas, it enters a sewage system and eventually a waste water treatment plant where the wastewater is processed before it is released. However rural areas throughout the state rely on cesspools and septic tanks. Understanding the difference between the two is crucial in understanding one of the biggest challenges to water quality in Hawaii.  Cesspools are essentially concrete cylinders underground with open bottom and porous side walls. Sewage and waste water leaks directly into the ground. If these systems are close to rivers, streams, and the ocean they can contaminate these water sources. Most older, rural houses in Hawaii still operate with cesspools. A septic system contains two closed plastic or concrete containers. In the first container, waste is degraded by bacteria and separated out into three layers with fats floating on the top, the sludge on the bottom, and water in the middle. The water then drains into another tank where a similar separation happens and an outflow pipe allows water to soak into a leach field. This process of holding the waste and allowing it to biodegrade makes them significantly less polluting to nearby water sources. The water is also released closer to the surface, where the active bacteria can feed on and filter what is released.  In a cesspool, the sewage soaks out at a lower level, where there is little bacteria to filter the effluent.  Depending on size and level of usage a septic system may need to be pumped periodically and the contents taken to a sewage treatment plant.

There are still 88,000 cesspools located  throughout the state. Most are on the Big Island (50,000), but there are still 11,000 on Oahu as well. These cesspools leach sewage into our streams and ocean. The Big Island is the only island that still allows cesspools in new construction. In 2017, the state legislature mandated removal of all cesspools by 2050.  The same year,  the legislature provided a $10,000 tax credit for properties within 500 ft of waterways if they replaced a cesspool with a septic system.  This is around ⅓ of the cost of a new system. However the tax credit expired in 2020 and has not been extended. If homeowners want to expand their homes, they are required to replace cesspools with septic tanks. However, the legislature has not passed legislation that requires the replacement of cesspools with septic systems. One proposal would be to require the upgrade when a house is sold. At this point the seller is usually making a lot money and has the money to upgrade. Other proposals would be to increase the amount of state aid available for the homes closest to streams and shorelines.

Another significant threat to Hawaii’s freshwater supply is the Red Hill Navy fuel tank. Built in the 1940s, the 20 tanks hold 250 million gallons of fuel which is used for naval operations in the Pacific. The Red Hill facility is approaching 80 years old and is located  directly above the aquifer which provides water for parts of the city of Honolulu.^[6] Pressure from the Sierra Club and other groups has been warning about the possibility of contamination for years.  Since construction, the tanks have leaked an estimated 180,000 gallons of fuel. There was a large leak in 2014 that leaked 27,00 gallons of fuel. In 2021, two leaks of 14,000 gallons and 1,600 gallons led to the closure of several nearby wells and the evacuation of nearby homes whose drinking water was contaminated.

These spills and the health complaints from residents finally prompted the Hawaii State Department of Health to call for the removal of the tanks. According to the Sierra Club, “The Navy’s own studies cite that there is a 27.6 % chance that the facility could leak up to 30,000 gallons of fuel every year.^[7] That is an almost 1 in 3 chance that another large leak—similar to the 2014 leak—will occur in the future. The studies also reveal that the tanks could have chronic leaks, releasing upwards of 5,800 gallons of fuel annually.” In addition, there is evidence that the Navy has covered up past leaks in order to avoid negative press coverage, making them untrustworthy partners in protecting the drinking water supply for urban Honolulu. In spring of 2022, the Navy committed to shutting down the tanks, but it could be many more years before alternative fuel storage facilities are built and the tanks closed for good.

Solutions

The most obvious solutions involve water conservation and better protection of the existing sources of clean water. Not polluting water is a lot cheaper and more effective than trying to clean it up after the fact. This would seem obvious but many polluting industries resist regulations that protect our limited and essential water supply.

Once the basic supply of water is protected, we need to also think about using it efficiently. Some households and businesses develop gray water systems in which water can be used multiple times before it is discarded. For instance, the water you used to take a shower could later be used to water your garden or wash your car, instead of going directly into the waste stream. These systems require rethinking what happens to water as it goes down the drain.

Water catchment systems also allow for people to collect the rainwater from their roofs in large tanks and cisterns and then purify that to use in household uses or use it directly for watering plants. On the Big Island, many neighborhoods do not have municipal water lines and rely on catchment tanks for their household water supply. Catchment tanks can be used to reduce reliance on aquifers but can also reduce the impact of run-off into streams and the ocean caused by urbanization and the large increase in impervious surfaces. However, they are dependent on rainfall which will may be vulnerable with climate change.

Other solutions include the increasing efficiency of appliances like dishwashers, laundry machines, toilets and installing low flow shower heads and faucets. Many of these can be designed to work just as well while using significantly less water. These solutions are also relatively easy to implement and can make a large impact. Of course, all of these solutions have more impact when implemented by large institutions like schools and businesses that are significant water users.

Repairing leaking faucets and showers is also important in reducing water waste. In addition, landscaping with plants that require minimal amounts of water reduces water usage. In many parts of California, watering your lawn is becoming illegal as the drought in the West intensifies. People are transitioning to drought tolerant species for landscaping instead of lawns which were originally created in the wetter regions of Northern Europe and the Eastern US.

Even more important than focusing on individual households is focusing on large businesses like agriculture or industry that use a significant amount of water. Only about 12% of total water use goes for public municipal water supplies while the vast majority goes for mining, agriculture, and other uses. Even within Municipal users, large hotels or golf course use a lot more water than families. Any gains made with industries and industrial agriculture will have a much larger impact than individuals taking shorter showers. In Hawaii, agriculture has been declining since the plantation era but as it comes back we should focus on crops that are perhaps less water intensive and be suspicious of golf courses in areas that receive little rainfall and require extensive irrigation.

Often times, public policies can actually create perverse incentives that encourage farmers or factories to use more water. For example, despite the drought, farmers in California with access to water continue to plant almonds, a very thirsty crop, because their price has risen as water becomes scarcer. ^[8] This is one way in which the way water laws are currently organized in many areas no longer make sense with the growing demand and diminishing supply. Focusing on the government management is essential for creating a system that makes sense and encourages conservation.

Classroom Ideas and Disciplinary Adaptations

Social Sciences

What rules have governed water use in traditional societies?  What concerns do they reflect? Explore traditional management of water resources in Bali or Hawaii.

What events in US history raised the awareness of water quality and led to the clean water act?  Since it’s passing, how successful has the act been? What remains to be done?

Natural Sciences

What is the chemistry of water pollution? What are common scientific tests to test for water quality? Conduct water quality tests of local rivers and oceans.

How does the water cycle work in Hawaii? How does it impact the distribution of plants and animals?

Math and Business

Use mathematical equations to model different processes of water pollution, water flows, and treatment.

Discuss the costs to businesses to provide clean water or to clean up water they have polluted.

What is clean water worth? How much is a clean ocean worth in Hawaii in terms of tourism, fishing, recreation, and the other benefits it provides?

Art and Humanities

Examine literature, art and films about water and water conflicts.

Supplemental Materials

Books

Bacigalupi, P. (2016) The Water Knife. (Fiction)

Fishman, C (2010). The Big Thirst: The Marvels, Mysteries & Madness Shaping the New Era of Water.

Solomon, S (2010) Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization.

Articles

Nunes, C. (2010) Water pollution is a rising global crisis. Here’s what you need to know. National Geographic.

Websites

Board of Water Supply. Hawaii’s Water Cycle

Hawaii First Water. 

NRDC. Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know

Films

Bozzo, S. (2008) Blue Gold: World water wars.

Soechtig, S. and J. Lindsey (2009) Tapped.

Podcasts

Episode 640: The Bottom Of The Well : Planet Money : NPR