Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Karst Cave Hiking Adventure: Moili'ili Karst Exploration

http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-exploration.html

Rather than go into a long dissertation about how this limestone cave system was created here under the shadow of the Ko'olau Volcano, the short version is that a very long time ago the sea level on O'ahu was much higher and the area near the University of Hawaii was once covered by a coral reef.

As the sea levels dropped the reef was exposed to the air and died. Springs and runoff from the mountains above ate into the limestone layer left by the reef creating a network of caves. Most have either collapsed or been filled in over the years.

These systems are also found other places on the leeward coast. This fantastic link that explains everything about this system in far more detail than I could.

http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V60/V60N3-Halliday.pdf

Before we go further, despite what the link says the water in the cave system is anything but clean just from visual observation.

Further, access to the system is tenuous at best and there is a danger of both flash flooding and the possibility of a cave in.

Neither scenario is a good one because there is only one way in and one way out of the cave. No directions and no names and, for the record, I was never there either.

I didn't see much in the way of plant or animal life, just a few roots hanging from the ceiling from trees above and some type of small fish. In fact I'd call it more of a guppy than a fish. Others reported seeing some type of shrimp.

Someone spotted a centipede- something no one was excited to hear about but it made for great conversation about how many more there might be down here, what mutant sizes they would reach, and how their appetite for human flesh would have developed.

While it wasn't much of a hike or trail, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to visit this unique and interesting place. Perhaps someday I'll return but I can assure you, it won't be alone and it won't be anytime soon!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xjcreations/sets/72157630045534695/

Oahu Karst Cave Photo and Video Links:

The Moiliili Karst Formation http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/cavemap.html

http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/caveorganisms.html

Moili'ili Karst Cave Exploration http://www.alohafrom808.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-cave-exploration-june-2012/

Moili'ili Karst Exploration http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-exploration.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrGTMYk5cXI

Moiliili Karst http://easyhikerhawaii.blogspot.com/2012/07/moiliili-karst.html

Mōʻiliʻili Karst (Mōʻiliʻili Water Cave)http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2012/12/moiliili-karst-moiliili-water-cave.html

Video and Links: Mo'ili'ili Underground Caverns Video

by shibbystylee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrGTMYk5cXI

Hiking Hawaii: Moiliili (Honolulu, Hawaii) Karst Cave

by Easy Hiker

http://easyhikerhawaii.blogspot.com/2012/07/moiliili-karst.html

Around 4am that morning we were met at our house by two of our good friends who would be joining us. We grabbed our bags and headlamps and half asleep, set off on our drive to Manoa.

We were forced to low and at points crawl, but in just a few short minutes we had reached the cave system.

The water was very clear and the cave, in and of itself, was a very pleasing sight. As we began to make our way further into the cave, the water was about chest high.

The water that was incredibly clear was now becoming murky due to those in front of me stirring up the silt as they trudged along. At points I felt like we were walking in quick sand, but only a few parts were really bad.

Every time one of us grabbed the ceiling of the cave, a ton of rocks would fall.

At one point, shortly after we had entered the cave system, I propped myself up onto a rock. As everyone was talking, the rock I was standing on, suddenly gave way and I went tumbling. My first instinct was to save my DSLR camera (which I did).

A few moments later I realized that I had sliced my right leg open in numerous of spots and was bleeding extremely well.

I thought the cave was spectacular, but had no griped about turning around. We all had a lot of fun on our way back to the entrance but as we got closer to exiting my friend noticed a set of eyes in the distance, staring at us.

My wife hid behind a pillar as my friend tried to duck behind her. After a few minutes of being slightly scared, and extremely paranoid, my other buddy caught up to us and informed us that the eyes were merely the tunnel entrance in the distance, with light shinning through now that it was daylight out.

While the adventure was fairly short, it was filled with laughs and good times with good friends. I am not gonna make a habit of visiting this cave, but I will definetly go back sooner rather than later.

Bio Diversity: The Moiliili Karst Formation

http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/cavemap.html

The Moiliili Karst Formation is a pie shaped wedge that starts at the University of Hawaii lower campus and extends to approximately Kapiolani Avenue.

This entire section is a limestone base that was formed from an old coral reef. Rainwater runoff from Manoa Valley has caused the limestone to erode, forming the present day karst caves that lie underneath the busy University / King Shopping complexes.

According to Frank Howarth, stresses in a cave environment include, “perpetual darkness and humidity, lack of important environmental cues, complex mazelike living space, stressful or even lethal gas mixtures, patchy food resources, barren rocky substrates, wet and slippery vertical surfaces, and occasional flooding.”

The primary food resources in caves include organic substances that are brought inside by water and gravity. As William Halliday (pers. comm.) observed, the fish inside the (Moiliili) cave were eating something that dripped from a dribble of water. He also noted that “biota is concentrated near the entrance. Large and small roots are present, with mycelia present on some” (Halliday 1994).

Many residents of the Moiliili area are unaware that just a couple meters below their feet, cars, houses, and businesses lies a truly amazing formation. The Moiliili karst formation is not only a “natural laboratory for a largely unstudied groundwater zone,” but also important is the “integration of drainage and economic importance” (Halliday 1998:145).

History of Moiliili Karst

The Karst was an integral part of the economy and world above it. There were several ponds that were fed by karsic springs. One was located west of University Avenue, upslope of Beretania Street. The Kanewai underground pond was important to Hawaiian culture, because its water was said to have healing properties.

Originally the pond was a favorite of Queen Kamamalu (sister of Kamehameha IV and V). The pond served as an enjoyable picnic site for the Queen and her brothers. Hawaiian royalty loved swimming in the ponds, which were also said to have healing powers (Willows Flyer: Appendix A).

The pond became the site of the Willows restaurant, and served as an attraction to customers. It was stocked with koi, which interbred with the existing fish creating a school of colorful fish (Halliday 1998).

The 1934 Dewatering

In 1934, a construction endeavor downslope struck a master conduit of the karst. This caused massive water drainage of the upslope area (Halliday: 1998). According to William Halliday (1998:143), “for more than four months, an average of 3.8 x 107 L was pumped daily before the hole could be sealed and construction resumed.”

The total amount pumped before the leak could be sealed was greater that one billion gallons of water (Halliday 1997).

The lowering of the water table has had several consequences on the surrounding area. The dramatic changes in the karst from before 1934 to present time are a result of the dewatering. There is assumed to have been considerable economic loss as sidewalks split, water and gas mains ruptured, trees sank, and houses rose and settled (Halliday 1998).

The spring feed ponds vanished within 24 hours, taking some fish into the karst, while leaving others stranded. There have been several instances of collapses since the dewatering. One instance involves the Standard Trading store falling through the ground into the karst below it (Watanabe 1996).

Another instance involves the emergence of a large cavern downslope from the King-University intersection. Some fish that disappeared from the Hausten Pond were seen there (Halliday 1998).

Mōiliʻili Karst Water Cave

Honolulu's Secret Underground Caves

Mōiliili Water Cave

Peter T Young

http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2012/12/moiliili-karst-moiliili-water-cave.html

The underground cave system is thought to be part of the original channel of Mānoa stream – people call it the Mōʻiliʻili Karst (Karst being a geological formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, such as limestone.)

The wide upslope section of the cave is centered near the intersection of University Avenue and South King Street (down slope from the University Avenue – H-1 interchange.) The lower edge is located at the intersection of University Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard.

The environment above the karst is highly urbanized, containing busy streets, buildings and businesses. The consequences of such urbanization are evident. Before damages due to urbanization and cave-ins, the Mōʻiliʻili Karst contained a half-mile cave that seemed to be a single connected structure.

There were several ponds that were fed by the karsic springs. One was located west of University Avenue, upslope of Beretania Street (near the UH makai campus.) The Kānewai underground pond was important to Hawaiian culture, because its water was said to have healing properties.

Massive Karst Cave Collapse in 1934
In 1934, a construction project downslope struck a master conduit of the karst. This caused massive water drainage of the upslope area; “for more than four months, an average of 3.8 x 107 L was pumped daily before the hole could be sealed and construction resumed.” The total amount pumped before the leak could be sealed was greater than one billion gallons of water.

The spring-feed ponds vanished within 24 hours. There have been several instances of collapses since the dewatering. One instance in 1952 involves the Standard Trading store falling through the ground into the karst below it. Another instance involves the emergence of a large cavern downslope from the King-University intersection.

The leak was repaired, but had changed the karst forever. Several spots in the formation were deliberately filled. Cave-ins greatly reduced the size of the cave network, and changed access to the underground.

Karst Cave Photo and Video Links:

The Moiliili Karst Formation http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/cavemap.html

http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/caveorganisms.html

Moili'ili Karst Cave Exploration http://www.alohafrom808.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-cave-exploration-june-2012/

Moili'ili Karst Exploration http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-exploration.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrGTMYk5cXI

Moiliili Karst http://easyhikerhawaii.blogspot.com/2012/07/moiliili-karst.html

Mōʻiliʻili Karst (Mōʻiliʻili Water Cave)http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2012/12/moiliili-karst-moiliili-water-cave.html

Fantastic Must See Oahu Karst Cave Videos And Photos

Honolulu's Secret Karst Caves

Oahu Karst Cave Videos And Photos

Karst Caves and Underground Karst waterways exist throughout Honolulu- the Southern Oahu shoreline, all Pearl Harbor (Aiea, Navy, Hickam, Pearl City, Waipahu, etc.), ALL of the Ewa Plain, Waianae shoreline, etc.

There are also Karst Caves and water systems along the North Shore and Windward Oahu. A very large Karst Cave in Laie has yielded large amounts of calcite in the form of stalactite-stalagmites and karst Cave calcite has been commonly found on beaches- it is a sparkly, milky white mineral.

Legally, no one should be removing these minerals from existing Karst caves!

Visiting the fairly well documented Moiliili Karst is potentially dangerous and not recommended - however scientific exploration and documentation is highly encouraged.

There was a major Karst cave collapse in Moiliili in the 1930's.

Are we just going to wait for the next one to happen?

City and State government has been nearly completely ignoring future Karst collapse, sea level rise, Ala Wai canal pollution (which is only a fraction of the shoreline pollution going on and not mitigated.) ground water inundation and other very important water issues- despite
existing State Laws, the State Constitution, Public Trust, federal laws and supposed Shoreline Management.

Scientific studies and local shorelines around the Hawaiian Islands are becoming ecological dead zones and more and more fresh water is pumped out or badly polluted and dumped into the ocean.

There is a direct connection between fresh, unpolluted water flowing into the ocean and the ecological health of shoreline and the creatures that live there. Like the mass die off of bees, these small shore sea creatures and algae actually play an important role in our island
ecological health and sustainability. We are headed toward lifeless desert shorelines right now in Hawaii.

Our City and State government officials come pretty close to criminal negligence by not looking out for the health and welfare of its citizens and CLEAN WATER should be number one on the government agenda as we are living on an Island and everything will die without it.

We need to look to the Konohiki system of ecological management of our shorelines as the template for our survival.

Pouring concrete into Karst water caves and fresh water water channels is a sign of a very sick and corrupt government and ultimately will not stop what water intends to do.

It's also a violation of State laws, the Hawaii State Constitution and the Federal Clean Water Act, but the Hawaii government allows this all the time due to contractor-developer pay-offs.

Properly mitigated, sustainable development is what is needed, not the fast bucks and leave town tomorrow mentality that controls our Hawaii government now.

Kanehili Cultural Hui

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The Moiliili Karst Formation

http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/cavemap.html

http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/caveorganisms.html

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Moili'ili Karst Cave Exploration

http://www.alohafrom808.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-cave-exploration-june-2012/

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Moili'ili Karst Exploration

http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-exploration.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrGTMYk5cXI

****************************************************************************

Moiliili Karst

http://easyhikerhawaii.blogspot.com/2012/07/moiliili-karst.html

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Mōʻiliʻili Karst (Mōʻiliʻili Water Cave)

http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2012/12/moiliili-karst-moiliili-water-cave.html

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Sea-Level Rise And Groundwater Inundation In Honolulu

Assessment of groundwater inundation in Honolulu

as a consequence of sea-level rise

Kolja Rotzoll & Charles H. Fletcher

Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii, 2540 Dole Street,

Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA

Nature Climate Change 477–481 Volume:3 Pages: 2013

Strong evidence on climate change underscores the need for actions to reduce the impacts of sea-level rise. Global mean sea level may rise 0.18–0.48 m by mid-centuryand 0.5–1.4 m by the end of the century.

Map of the study area of southern Oahu, Hawaii, surficial geology, aquifer-system boundaries and locations of tidal-efficiency and groundwater-level measurements.

Besides marine inundation, it is largely unrecognized that low-lying coastal areas may also be vulnerable to groundwater inundation, which is localized coastal-plain flooding due to a rise of the groundwater table with sea level.

Measurements of the coastal groundwater elevation and tidal influence in urban Honolulu, Hawaii, allow estimates of the mean water table, which was used to assess vulnerability to groundwater inundation from sea-level rise.

We find that 0.6 m of potential sea-level rise causes substantial flooding, and 1 m sea-level rise inundates 10% of a 1-km wide heavily urbanized coastal zone. The flooded area including groundwater inundation is more than twice the area of marine inundation alone.

This has consequences for decision-makers, resource managers and urban planners, and may be applicable to many low-lying coastal areas, especially where groundwater withdrawal is not substantial.

Conceptual diagram of a freshwater lens, and marine and groundwater inundation under SLR in the southern Oahu aquifer.

Inundation at MHHW under sea-level rise in the Honolulu caprock aquifer, Oahu, Hawaii.

Ancient Karst Reef Sinkholes On The Ewa Plain Hold Secrets To Oahu’s Earliest Residents

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2015/01/Ewa-ancient-karst-reef-sinkholes.html

Oahu's Ewa Plain Karst Sinkholes And Caves Yield Extinct Bird Fossils

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2015/01/ewa-plain-karst-sinkholes-and.html

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal Is Dangerous, Bacteria Infested Water - Paddle At Your Own Risk

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

Karen Ah Mai, executive director of the Ala Wai Watershed Association, says she became involved in trying to clean up the canal years ago out of concern for her daughter, a paddler.

“Every mom’s horror story is that their child will overturn their canoe in the Ala Wai Canal,” she said. “And after she did that twice, I said, my God, I need to do something about this because moms have nightmares about their children falling in the Ala Wai Canal.”

Ah Mai also worried that her daughter could get sick simply by swallowing the contaminated water.

“If they should accidentally drink some of that water, I dread to think what would happen to their systems,” she said. “When the kids are paddling during the high school season, we know that most of the kids are going to get an infection.”

Health experts say that the pollutants in the canal can cause skin, ear, eye and throat infections, as well as painful gastrointestinal illnesses. More serious concerns center around bacterial infections that can be resistant to antibiotics.

Paddlers with open wounds are at particular risk.

“You really have to get those cleaned out well because that is a broth of bacteria,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, a kidney specialist and former emergency services director for the city.

But despite the warnings of health experts and the concerns of paddlers and parents like Ah Mai, there’s little support for banning paddling, and in particular, outrigger canoe racing — Hawaii’s state sport and an interscholastic high school sport.

The Ala Wai Canal is one of the best places to practice and race because of its flat, controlled environment.

In the evenings, paddlers gliding along the canal have a view of the thousands of lights that illuminate the Waikiki skyline. And as they head out past the mouth of the canal and into the open ocean they’re greeted with the turquoise Waikiki waters lit by the brilliant hues from the sun setting along the horizon.

Outrigger canoe paddlers say that the Ala Wai Canal is one of the few places to practice around Honolulu that has an exit to the ocean. Waikiki and the beach at Ala Moana have been off limits for years.

US EPA Treats Hawaii Like Third World Basket Case So Clean Water Legal Action Lacking

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

Environmental attorneys have sued the state in the past in order to force action on water quality. But even they have little inclination to take on the Ala Wai Canal again.

They say there is no federal requirement to shut down the canal. The state is required to come up with a federally approved plan to reduce the bacteria counts, which it hasn't done, and the EPA, which has the power to intervene, hasn't made the state comply, environmental advocates say.

That means the only recourse is to sue the state for failing to comply with Clean Water Act regulations, they say.

Both state and federal officials said the lack of resources is the real problem and that the state health department doesn't have enough people or money to address all the water pollution throughout the state.

Right now the state’s priorities are on tackling pollution in areas such as Hanalei Bay on Kauai, where the water contains high bacteria counts, and west Maui, where injection wells could be polluting the nearshore waters, says Watson Okubo, who supervises water monitoring for the state health department’s clean water branch.

Dean Higuchi, a spokesman for the EPA, acknowledged that the state was required by federal law to come up with a plan to reduce the bacteria levels in the Ala Wai Canal. But the EPA has no intention of cracking down. He said that the state's limited resources could be put to better use in other areas.

“The Ala Wai (watershed) is a very large, large area that will take an immense amount of resources,” he said. "If you sink all your resources into the Ala Wai, then others get neglected.”

Daniel Cooper, an attorney for San Francisco-based Lawyers for Clean Water, said that the Clean Water Act doesn't have "a lack of resources exception."

“So the state says, ‘Oh it doesn’t matter.’ But they are violating federal law right now,” Cooper said.

He said it’s “disgraceful” for the EPA to take the position it has no legal obligation to try to force the state to comply.

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal A Long Smelly Mess

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

The Ala Wai is classified as a Class 2 body of water under the 1972 Clean Water Act, landmark federal legislation passed to clean up the nation’s polluted waterways.

The classification means the state must keep the canal safe for recreational use “in and on” the water, as well as protect its aquatic life.

But a Civil Beat review of the past seven years of data on enterococci — a bacteria the state uses as an indicator for dangerous levels of pathogens — shows that the canal fails state standards the majority of the time. Bacteria levels in the canal rarely fall below the state’s safe limit for recreational bodies of water and often spike tens of times higher than acceptable levels.

A toxic soup of other pollutants have been detected in the canal over the years, too, including heavy metals, pesticides and excessive levels of nutrients that can cause algae blooms and can be harmful to human health.

[VIDEO] Part Three: Is The Ala Wai An Asset Or A Liability?

While the federal Clean Water Act requires states to set a safe standard for recreational bodies of water, if a waterbody fails the standard, there's no requirement to shut it down.

"You don't remove the use because the standards aren't met," said Janet Hashimoto, a manager for water quality standards in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's San Francisco office, which oversees Hawaii.

"The expectation is one of these days it will meet the use of the standards."
But past data on bacteria levels suggest the state is far from on its way to meeting those standards.

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal: Makes You Sick - Shut Down Public Access?

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal: Makes You Sick

- Shut Down Public Access?

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

Twain Newhart is about to take off in a one-man kayak on the Ala Wai Canal. He lifts up his leg and points to a black scab.

“It happens all the time,” he says. “It can be bad. It can be really bad. The staph, if it is staph, is the one problem that all paddlers in the Ala Wai face.”

Another paddler displays a deep scar on his hip where an infection had to be drained.
It’s an all too common problem.

Every year, hundreds of canoe racers, from children to adults, paddle out into the murky waters of the Ala Wai Canal even though the water — by the state’s own standards — isn’t safe for recreation.

For more than two decades, the canal has regularly failed state and federal water quality standards for recreational bodies of water, limits that are in place to keep people from getting sick.

But there is little if any thought given to banning public use of the Ala Wai Canal and some health officials shrug off their own data on high bacterial counts.

Markus Owens, a spokesman for the city of Honolulu's Department of Environmental Services, says he doesn't think the data is a good indicator of health risks.

But many paddlers say that the health problems in the canal are rife. One paddling coach, who contracted MRSA, a staph infection that can be life threatening, says he advises his paddlers to take preventive antibiotics.

In 2006, a man died from bacterial infections he contracted after he fell in the canal soon after the city had dumped raw sewage into it.

And taxpayers have been forced to pay at least $200,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a surfer who also suffered from life-threatening bacterial infections related to sewage dumping in the canal. She was surfing off Waikiki Beach and was infected after she cut herself on coral.

But some say that the canal's pollution amounts to more of a nuisance than a serious health hazard.
"We don't have bodies lying in the street," said June Harrigan-Lum, a former state health official.

"That is where there would be a serious investigation and enforcement. Yes, people do get infections and they get sick and the infections clear up and not much is done."

Even the paddlers themselves say they’d rather put up with the scabs, boils and rashes then give up their prime recreational site. In fact, they worry that bringing attention to their health problems could prompt the government to shut it down.

“I don’t want to complain because we like using it,” said Rachel Orange, who coaches one of the competitive paddling teams that regularly train on the Ala Wai.

VIDEO: Waikiki Canal Builders Didn't Look To The Future

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/20/19079-video-canal-builders-didnt-look-to-the-future/

Hawaii civic leaders hoped the Ala Wai Canal would bring economic prosperity and stop the spread of disease they thought was coming from the fields and wetlands. In the 1920s, no one gave much thought to what the destruction of the ecosystem might mean for a future filled with a million people.

SLIDESHOW: Photos Show A Changing Waikiki

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/20/19102-slideshow-photos-show-a-changing-waikiki/

Historic photos, many from the Hawaii State Archives, show how the Ala Wai Canal changed the Waikiki area. From lush farms, fields and wetlands to a lanscape scraped and filled by dredging machines and other turn-of-the-century equipment, business and civic leaders transformed the area.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/civilbeat/sets/72157633520496844/

VIDEO: Waikiki Canal Builders Didn't Look To The Future

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/20/19079-video-canal-builders-didnt-look-to-the-future/

DATA: Waikiki Ala Wai Water Bacteria Danger Levels Off The Charts

DATA: Waikiki Ala Wai Water Bacteria Danger Levels

Off The Charts

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19127-data-ala-wai-bacteria-levels-off-the-charts/

The Ala Wai Canal far exceeds the state's safe standard for bacteria levels associated with skin, nose, air and eye infections, as well as well as painful gastrointestinal illnesses.

The charts below show the levels of enterococci bacteria detected in the canal since 2006. Tests for enterococci suggest whether there's fecal matter in the water, whether from human or animal sources. The test also indicates whether there are high levels of other pathogens that can make people sick.

The data, provided by the city of Honolulu, shows that enterococci levels far exceed the state's standard for recreational bodies of water, which is 33 CFU per 100 milliliters. The numbers spike into the tens of thousands, as shown in the charts on the left. The charts on the right have been cropped and show that the levels of enterococci rarely even come close to falling below the safe limit. Results are in CFU per 100 milliliters.

McCully Street Bridge

Kaiolu Street

Waikiki Yacht Club

Date Street Bridge

VIDEO: Is The Waikiki Ala Wai An Asset Or A Liability?

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19081-video-is-the-ala-wai-an-asset-or-a-liability/

The Ala Wai Canal is at the center of one of Hawaii's most congested and most developed regions.

Pollution and other problems abound, but it remains a Honolulu landmark.

The question now: what to do about it?

Special Report - The History and Future of the Waikiki Ala Wai Canal

The History and Future of the Waikiki Ala Wai Canal

http://www.civilbeat.com/specials/ala-wai-canal-hawaiis-biggest-mistake/

Special Report - The history and future of the Ala Wai canal.

The Ala Wai Canal's History

1890's

1896

New government passes Act 61

1900's

1906

Board of Health warns of disease

1910's

1910–1920

Waikiki attracts wealthy

1937

Ala Wai Golf Course expands

1940's

1940s

Waikiki boasts boat races and fishing

1940s

1950's

1950–80

Waikiki development explodes

1950

1960's

1965

Storms flood canal

1965

1967

Canal filling with muck

1970's

1976

State calls canal eyesore

1976

1978

Canal stinks, fish gasp for oxygen

1980's

1983

Canoe paddlers turned away by raw sewage

1990's

1991

State warns residents not to swim in canal

1991

1998

Task force devises cleanup plan

The state of Hawaii has done a horrible job in gaining control of nonpoint source pollution

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/21/19074-ala-wai-canal-oversight-is-as-murky-as-the-water/

Federal law prohibits the flow of high levels of contaminants into the Ala Wai. But since most of it is simply runoff, it’s coming from sources that are hard to pin down let alone regulate.

“When you are talking about thousands of individual property owners who are contributing to the overall degradation of the canal, who do you want me to fine?” said the health department's Gill.

Environmental activists argue the state could be doing more to control runoff, even from residential property.

“The state of Hawaii has done a horrible, horrible job in gaining control of nonpoint source pollution that is damaging our waterways and hurting our economy,” said David Henkin, an attorney for Honolulu-based Earthjustice.

In this year’s legislative session, Gill pushed for a bill that would have expanded the health department’s authority to combat runoff, including sewage from residential cesspools that is suspected of flowing into waterways when it rains.

But the bill died. Broader requirements in the legislation affected more than just homeowners' cesspools. Agricultural and industrial interests also would have been required to control runoff from their properties, some of which flows into the Ala Wai. Major businesses and developers lobbied against the measure, including Alexander & Baldwin, the General Contractors Association of Hawaii and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

The contractors association argued that the bill would increase costs and unnecessarily burden the construction industry, while the Hawaii Farm Bureau said it would add a “costly bureaucratic hurdle” to local food production.

So the Ala Wai will continue to build up with sediment, chemicals and other contaminants — at least for now.

“The Legislature dealt a huge blow to water quality improvement in the state,” Gill said.

Cleaning Up The Ala Wai Canal In Waikiki Is Complicated

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/21/19074-ala-wai-canal-oversight-is-as-murky-as-the-water/

Prior to the canal’s construction in the 1920s, extensive wetlands naturally cleansed the fresh water descending from streams in the Manoa, Palolo and Makiki valleys before it washed into the ocean off of Waikiki.

The canal destroyed this natural filtration system. And as urban growth exploded in the mid-20th century, the canal became a catch basin for all the pollution and trash from the the ridges and valleys that form the Ala Wai Watershed area.

[VIDEO] Part Two: Building The Ala Wai Included Design Flaw

Even before the canal was finished in 1928 engineers realized the design was seriously flawed. The eastern outlet was never built because they didn't want pollution being swept west past Waikiki Beach. The semi-closed system means the canal doesn’t regularly flush, so contaminants build up in the sediment and the water.

In 1929, Oahu had a population of about 200,000. Today, it’s nearly 1 million. Tens of thousands of cars and trucks travel through the Ala Wai watershed area daily, leaving behind heavy metals and chemicals that are washed into storm drains and into the canal when it rains.

Rain also flushes pesticides, pathogens, dead animals, debris and sewage into storm drains and streams leading into the canal. While the city is primarily responsible for keeping the streams clean, the situation is complicated by hundreds of property owners who own parts of the streams.

In 1998, the task force estimated that 1,500 truckloads of sediment a year were being washed into the canal — a rate that would turn the canal into a mass of muck in about 50 years if not dredged, the panel predicted.

Cleaning that contaminated sediment out the canal is an expensive proposition. So far, cleanup has been largely through dredging, with tons of contaminated sediments dumped offshore.

Still, the canal has only been partially dredged three times in its history — in 1967, 1978 and 2002.

The 1998 task force said it needed to be dredged every 10 years — a cost the group estimated to be $10 million each time.

But there are no current plans to dredge the canal again, according to Carty Chang, chief engineer at Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, which owns the canal and manages it.

Chang said that the department is waiting to see if dredging is part of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal that is expected to recommend ways to redesign the canal to prevent flooding.

Fish Struggle to Breathe In Dangerously Polluted Waikiki Waters

Fish Struggle to Breathe In

Dangerously Polluted Waikiki Waters

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/21/19074-ala-wai-canal-oversight-is-as-murky-as-the-water/

Some parts of the Ala Wai Canal and boat harbor are so oxygen starved that schools of tilapia, an aggressive, hardy fish from Africa introduced to Hawaii in the 1950s, gulp for air at the water’s surface.

The fish are trying to tap surface water where oxygen levels are higher, says Kevin Hopkins, director of the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Scientific studies by the UH have tied the lack of oxygen in the canal to decaying sediment and excessive levels of nitrogen and phosphorous.

High levels of the nutrients not only deplete oxygen levels, but make the water murky. They cause algae blooms, can kill fish and create toxins and bacteria that make people sick, according to information from the EPA.

Both are naturally occurring in the environment, but major runoff from upland streams, as well as fertilizers and automobile exhaust, lead to toxic levels of the nutrients.

The state health department set out to combat the nitrogen and phosphorous problem in the Ala Wai Canal back in 1995, establishing a plan to reduce the pollutants, as required under the 1972 Clean Water Act.

As of 2002, the state was required to reduce the canal's nitrogen content by 65 percent and its phosphorous content by 50 percent in order to meet water quality standards.

But the state hasn’t tested for phosphorous or nitrogen since establishing the reduction plan, so there’s no way of knowing whether that requirement is being met.

Ala Wai Canal: Oversight Is As Murky As The Water

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/21/19074-ala-wai-canal-oversight-is-as-murky-as-the-water/

Oliver Johnson, a 34-year old mortgage broker and surfer from Honolulu lay in Queen’s Medical Center, his body swollen beyond recognition, blisters covering his skin and his left leg amputated above the knee.

A few days earlier, he'd gotten into a bar fight near the Ala Wai Boat Harbor and was either pushed or fell into the dark waters of the harbor.

Unfortunately for Johnson, city officials had just finished diverting 48 million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai Canal after a pipe broke in Waikiki, spewing waste onto the streets of the state’s main business and tourism center.

Johnson was dead within days. He’d contracted three bacterial infections, including the flesh-eating kind, that spread throughout his body and cost him a leg.

His gruesome death in 2006 is perhaps the most public symbol of pollution in the Ala Wai Canal.

But even now canoe paddlers regularly complain of infections and residents recoil from the smelly brown water where tires, plastic food wrappers and beer bottles float in the near stagnant canal.

The canal is the most heavily used inland waterway in the state for recreation but it regularly fails state water standards for recreational bodies of water.

Yet there is little political or public interest in banning recreational activities. Even the paddlers themselves say they’d rather put up with oozing sores and itchy scabs then lose their broad, smooth waterway where hundreds compete in popular races.

Signs warn against eating fish and crabs from the canal but people still do it anyway. Civil Beat interviewed one man who said he routinely sells his catch in Chinatown.

Civil Beat had samples of Ala Wai fish and crab independently tested. Results showed excessive levels of the kind of bacteria that causes food poisoning, along with detectable levels of heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and mercury.

But the true extent of the public health threat remains as murky as the waters of the Ala Wai.
Canal contamination has been studied since the 1970s. And over the years, tests have shown cancer-causing chemicals in soil sediment, high levels of heavy metals in fish and crabs, and bacteria levels many times the limit considered safe for recreational use.

But state officials haven’t regularly monitored contaminants in the canal since 1999, according to the Hawaii Department of Health, which is responsible for enforcing the federal Clean Water Act that sets standards and limits on contaminants.

The department had been testing the canal as part of its program to monitor and improve Hawaii’s inland waters. But in 2000, Congress passed the BEACH Act which established strict testing and public notification requirements for coastal waters.

That shifted the state’s focus away from inland waters to the coasts, said Gary Gill, deputy director for environmental health.

Although the state, which owns the Ala Wai and manages it through the Department of Land and Natural Resources, could have continued to monitor the canal on its own, it didn’t.

Watson Okubo, who supervises water monitoring in the health department’s clean water branch, says he hasn’t had the money or the manpower to test Hawaii waterways, including the Ala Wai Canal, for many years. Budget cuts in 2010 further reduced his monitoring staff on Oahu, from five to one, he said.

Even though the state hasn’t conducted its own monitoring, the city has been required to test for enterococci levels in the canal since 2006 to make sure that an emergency sewage pipe isn’t leaking. Enterococci — a bacteria, commonly found in human and animal guts — is the EPA’s main indicator for detecting fecal matter and potentially high levels of pathogens that can cause skin infections, disease and gastrointestinal illnesses.

The massive six-day sewage dump in 2006 that claimed the life of Oliver Johnson caused the level of enterococci bacteria to spike to more than 4,000 times the safe limit established by the EPA. Offshore, bacteria levels also rose during the 2006 dump, sickening at least one woman who won a major settlement from the city.

A Civil Beat review of city data from 2006 through April 2013 shows that the canal has for most of that time far exceeded the state’s safe level for enterococci.
Points near Kaiolu Street, the Date Street Bridge, the McCully Bridge and Waikiki Yacht Club at times tested nearly 1,000 times higher than the level considered safe. The enterococci counts were so high at times that they exceeded even the levels detected during the early days of the 2006 sewage dump.

Since 2006, there have also been at least six additional raw sewage spills in the Ala Wai Canal, according to city data.

And while there is no data since the 1990s because no tests have been done, the Ala Wai Canal also tested positive for pesticides and heavy metals linked to cancer, birth defects and damage to the nervous system. This includes dieldrin, chlordane and DDT, insecticides now banned by the EPA. Heavy metals detected in the canal in the past include arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, nickel and chromium.

“I can honestly say that I think the pollution continues,” says the health department's Okubo. “Whether it’s better or worse (over the years), that is debatable.”

Heavy Rains And Tons Of Dumped Raw Sewage Keep Waikiki Beach Closed

Heavy Rains And Tons Of Dumped

Raw Sewage Keep Waikiki Beach Closed

By JANIS L. MAGIN - New York Times

Several hundred yards of beaches in Honolulu from Ala Moana Park to the military's Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki were closed to swimmers for a second day because of high bacteria levels, and the rain refused to let up. Five of Oahu's six public golf courses, the Honolulu Zoo and a popular botanical garden were also closed because of flooding.

A sewer line on the back side of Waikiki broke March 24, and the city had to divert the wastewater to the Ala Wai canal until Wednesday, some 48 million gallons over the five and a half days, instead of allowing it to back up into homes, hotels and businesses, said Bill Brennan, a spokesman for the City of Honolulu. The canal leads to the ocean near Waikiki Beach.

"If wastewater backed up into those areas, it would have been catastrophic and certainly devastating," Mayor Mufi Hannemann told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.

The Hawaii Department of Health is testing the ocean water daily for fecal bacteria levels, some of which were recorded at levels thousands of times higher than acceptable, said Kurt Tsue, a department spokesman.

Officials do not know how long the beaches will remain closed, but they do not expect any more closings.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal Is Dangerous, Bacteria Infested Water - Paddle At Your Own Risk

US EPA Treats Hawaii Like Third World Basket Case So Clean Water Legal Action Lacking

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal A Long Smelly Mess

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal: Makes You Sick

- Shut Down Public Access?

VIDEO: Waikiki Canal Builders Didn't Look To The Future

SLIDESHOW: Photos Show A Changing Waikiki

VIDEO: Waikiki Canal Builders Didn't Look To The Future

DATA: Waikiki Ala Wai Water Bacteria Danger Levels

Off The Charts

McCully Street Bridge

Kaiolu Street

Waikiki Yacht Club

Date Street Bridge

VIDEO: Is The Waikiki Ala Wai An Asset Or A Liability?

The History and Future of the Waikiki Ala Wai Canal

The Ala Wai Canal's History

1890's

1896

1900's

1906

1910's

1910–1920

1920's

1920

1930's

1937

1940's

1940s

1950's

1960's

1965

1967

1970's

1976

1978

1980's

1983

1990's

1991

1998

The state of Hawaii has done a horrible job in gaining control of nonpoint source pollution

Cleaning Up The Ala Wai Canal In Waikiki Is Complicated

Fish Struggle to Breathe In

Dangerously Polluted Waikiki Waters

Ala Wai Canal: Oversight Is As Murky As The Water

Heavy Rains And Tons Of Dumped

Raw Sewage Keep Waikiki Beach Closed