Like many parts of the state socked by extra-wet weather Wednesday, the chamber level of the state Capitol got pretty drenched.

Some hallways in the basement could have been mistaken for a rainforest, to the ear, though instead of raindrops pattering off a tree canopy it was a canopy of tarps channeling water drops into containers on the polished brown cement floor.

Inside and outside the Senate chamber, industrial vacuums were being used to suck water from soaked carpet.

In some basement offices, plastic sheeting blanketed furniture and equipment amid the internal downpour.

And in part of the parking garage, rivulets stretched from one end of the floor to the other.

All the heavy leaking stems from a ground-level reflecting pool on the Diamond Head side of the Capitol that has been undergoing repair since May after leaking for many years.

The state Department of Accounting and General Services from 2005 to 2008 and in several more recent years unsuccessfully sought funding from the Legislature to address long-deferred maintenance on the pair of pools bracketing the Capitol.

Lawmakers earlier this year appropriated $33.5 million to repair and renovate the pools after appropriating $9.8 million in 2021 for the more than $30 million job. Work on structural and waterproofing elements of the Diamond Head pool began in May under a contract with Kawika’s Painting, and is expected to be finished in December.

On Tuesday with expected heavy rain approaching Oahu, Chris Kinimaka, public works administrator for DAGS, advised legislative officials that additional measures were being implemented to minimize impacts of heavy ponding in the pool and potential leaks.

Such measures included the installation of catchment systems, increasing the size of work crews and having pumps on hand to remove water from the ponds.

On Wednesday, the crew from Kawika’s Painting on-site doubled to 10 from five, and water was being pumped out of the pool basin onto adjacent lawn areas. Still, a lot of water was infiltrating basement spaces below, and DAGS custodians were hard at work mitigating intrusions.

“They are doing all they can,” DAGS spokesperson Anthony Benabese said Wednesday. “We just got drenched.”

A flood watch issued Wednesday by the National Weather Service remains in place for all main Hawaiian Islands through this afternoon.

As part of the repair work coordinated by DAGS, structural damage and electrical problems below the Diamond Head pool caused by longtime leaks are to be addressed. Fixes to the Ewa pool, which does not cover much Capitol basement area compared with the Diamond Head pool, are planned for 2024 after the next legislative session adjourns in May.

DAGS also is exploring conversion of the pools into waterless platforms resembling pools as a way to avoid future problems with water in the pools eroding membranes that leads to more leaks over the long term.

The envisioned alternative to pools filled with water could be something similar to what was done at the Hawaii State Art Museum, where a swimming pool in the historic former downtown YMCA building was partially filled in to create a sunken seating area with a pool-like look in 2010.

According to DAGS, such a change would maintain the symbolism of the Capitol’s architectural design.

The Capitol, built in 1969, is on the Hawaii and National Registers of Historic Places. The building, which is ringed by columns between the pools, represents a volcanic island dotted with palm trees rising out of the ocean.