So many discussions of water rights and water use in Hawaii are clouded by self-righteous and misplaced indignation. There is an idea that the ancient Hawaiian way was to let the water flow undiverted, undirected, untouched, from the rainfall in the mountains down through tributaries and streams all the way into the ocean. What’s left out of this oversimplified version of history is that ancient Hawaiians built ditches and waterways, dams and diversions as part of their sophisticated system of agriculture. The flow of fresh water is essential to the health of the watershed, yes, but water was also harnessed to cultivate crops and benefit the community.
But the idea that man-made water systems have been in place for decades and that the community grew in around them makes some enraged. Never mind that you can’t just literally open floodgates without risking a flood that will take out homes and businesses that have been built downstream. Never mind taking legal steps to argue your ideas in court. The battle cry is to just go get some heavy equipment and do some damage.
On Kauai last week it was discovered that someone — most likely several someones — took it upon themselves to “restore” the flow of water on the north fork of the Wailua River. They attempted this by hauling concrete-cutting equipment — maybe a jackhammer or gas-powered concrete saw — into the mountains and cutting through a diversion to interrupt water flow to a ditch. That ditch feeds water to two hydroelectric generators for the island’s utility co-op. Only on Kauai would clean energy somehow be seen as more egregious than burning oil.
The damage is being treated as an act of domestic terrorism because it was an attack against a public utility. That means the FBI is conducting the investigation.
The thing is, any furor over this diversion of water is not based on any victims downstream or misuse of sacred waters. It’s furor based on a faulty understanding of a larger picture, both historical and modern. The water is diverted, but after it runs through the hydroelectric generator, it is returned to the stream. It isn’t somehow used up, resold or chemically altered. This system has been in place since 1926 when the sugar company used hydroelectric power to run the sugar mill. There are currently farmers downstream who use the water for growing taro, flowers, vegetables and raising cattle. (A disclosure: My husband worked at Kauai Island Utility Cooperative until May.)
With the current fervor arising from new ideas of ancient Hawaiian practices, the menehune wouldn’t be able to build their fishpond on Kauai without attracting screaming protesters accusing them of not being Hawaiian enough and of selling out the aina and the wai. But ancient Hawaiians loved science, were amazing engineers and believed in managing natural resources rather than just letting whatever happens magically happen.
These debates, though, should be brought through the proper channels: state agencies and the court system. Hacking away at part of the island’s power supply is a federal crime.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
