Saving Kauai’s Kalihiwai Reservoir Is An Expensive Problem … In a last-ditch effort, some farmers and wildlife enthusiasts are trying to raise funds to save this relic of the plantation era.
When Kauai’s Kalihiwai Reservoir was built in 1920, its value was tied to sugar cane, the economic engine that propelled Hawaii into statehood before competition from cheap foreign labor forced the industry to flee the state.
The reservoir, situated at the center of a neighborhood of luxury homes in one of the rainiest places on earth, has been through a lot since then.
After a century of use, the earthen dam has produced downstream leaks flagged by state regulators as potential safety hazards. The spillway, where surplus water can freely flow if the reservoir overtops, is too small. And the embankment slopes are too steep, a potential stability problem for the walls that hold the water in.
Erosion and the passage of time contributed to these deficiencies, first identified by state dam safety inspectors in 2006. Another factor is that dam safety regulations simply didn’t exist when the reservoir was constructed.
