The Senate Committee on Ways and Means postponed making a decision on a bill Friday that would allocate state matching funds for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to lessen flood risks at the Ala Wai Canal.
The canal was built in the 1920s to create land for Waikiki development. Waikiki, the epicenter of the state’s tourism economy, is at risk if the canal overflows, so the state asked the corps to come up with a solution.
The Honolulu District of the corps said it is in the early stages of the project, including exploration and survey to refine data and develop feasibility designs into full designs. The agency’s current plan would put a 4-foot concrete wall around the Ala Wai Canal and place six in-stream debris and detention basins in the upper reaches of the watershed that flows into Waikiki. The project also includes pump stations, a stand-alone debris catchment and three multipurpose detention areas in open spaces through the developed watershed.
Congress already has appropriated $345 million for construction. However, to move the project forward, the corps must get the state, the city or both entities to agree to become project partners. It also needs matching funds. Gov. David Ige’s budget seeks $125 million to meet a federal cost-share requirement. But it’s still unclear whether state lawmakers will approve Ige’s request.
House Finance Committee Chairwoman Sylvia Luke previously stated that the Ala Wai flood control project is a Honolulu city works project, and has questioned whether the state should pay for what amounts to about 10 percent of its capital improvements budget.
Senate Bill 77, which was slated to be debated Friday by the Ways and Means Committee, seeks to appropriate funds for the Ala Wai flood risk management project while requiring the city to enter into a project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and accept all the project features identified in the Ala Wai flood risk management project.
But the city wasn’t present at the Friday hearing, and Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz deferred debate on the bill until 10:05 a.m. Tuesday in Room 211 “to get the city here so we can ask questions.”
About 25 people attended the Friday hearing, which included only negative oral testimony. At the hearing’s start Dela Cruz said lawmakers had received testimony from about five people in favor of funding the project, more than 120 who were opposed to releasing the funds, and one testifier who had submitted neutral comments. Additional oral testimony won’t be heard at Tuesday’s hearing, but written testimony may be sent in online until Monday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said flood prevention is needed along the streams for Waikiki and neighborhoods, which host approximately 65,000 residents and an additional 200,000 visitors daily. While the likelihood of a flood so severe that it encompasses all of Waikiki and the canal’s tributaries is only 1 percent, such a 100-year event potentially could damage 3,000 structures and require more than $1 billion in repairs.
Few on Oahu would deny the importance of protecting the state’s economic epicenter, Waikiki. But there’s a growing hui of residents who are concerned about unintended consequences, especially upstream. So far, three neighborhood boards — Manoa; Diamond Head, Kapahulu, St. Louis Heights; and Makiki, lower Punchbowl and Tantalus — have passed resolutions asking state lawmakers to put the project on pause so affected communities can provide more feedback.
The corps says it conducted significant public participation and outreach from 2004 to 2015 to meet Federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and follow Hawaii environmental compliance policies. Since the recent ramp-up in community pushback, the corps has established a frequently-asked-questions site, 808ne.ws/AlaWaiFAQ. Questions also may be emailed to AlaWaiFlood Project@usace.army.mil.
However, many stakeholders said they didn’t have a chance to provide adequate feedback, even some who stand to lose their homes or have their properties significantly affected by flood-control structures. Several faculty and students from Halau Ku Manu, a charter school, attended Friday’s hearing to tell lawmakers that their input on the proposed canal project wasn’t solicited although it would completely cover in water the area where the campus is situated.
“It will greatly impact communities not just in Makiki, but in the districts of Manoa and Palolo. Schools, community centers and house residents will be drastically changed and in some part removed in these districts due to the Ala Wai implementation,” said Meakala Wilhelm, a sophomore at Halau Ku Manu.
Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Bob Finley wasn’t present Friday, but said that his board was adequately informed about the long- delayed project, and so were others.
“Personally, I believe that this project should move forward so that we don’t risk losing federal funding. It benefits Waikiki and our ability to generate money to support other neighborhoods,” Finley said. “If the visitor industry is devastated by a flood, all those dollars that go to police and other services across the island would go away.”
