![]() ![]() We interviewed dozens of federal, state and city officials, as well as business leaders, environmental advocates and neighborhood activists to understand the intricate role the Ala Wai Canal has played - and is continuing to play - in the future of Hawaii. It’s a $100 million solution at a time when federal money is growing tighter and state and local budgets are paper thin.Ĭivil Beat researched historical documents dating back to the turn of the century and reviewed decades of environmental and engineering studies for this story. Significant dredging, a deeper channel, a wider McCully bridge, even walls along the canal are being considered. Army Corps of Engineers along with state and city officials have been struggling to put in place measures that would prevent disaster. The consequences of such destruction are enormous.įor years, the U.S. ![]() They say a major rainstorm and serious flood could put the area from Diamond Head to Ala Moana all the way up to Moiliili under five feet of water. Now, federal flood control experts are worried that a heavy rain could cause the Ala Wai to overflow its sides, creating a fast-moving flood big enough to wipe out Waikiki. (Click here for a map of the canal area.) The two-mile-long waterway was originally envisioned to have two outlets, one on either end, to allow runoff and sedimentation to be flushed into the ocean.īut the eastern outlet, near Kapiolani Park and Kaimana Beach, was abandoned when builders figured out the currents would sweep the contamination west - right onto the treasured Waikiki Beach where luxury hotels had already started attracting wealthy visitors from the mainland. A mistake made nearly 100 years ago is putting the economic heart of Hawaii in jeopardy.Įven before the canal was finished in 1927, engineers realized they’d made a serious miscalculation. One local man died from bacterial infections he picked up after falling in the water.īut an even bigger problem is looming. As Honolulu’s upstream population mushroomed, contamination in the canal has steadily increased and over the years levels of pollution have tested well above limits considered safe. Over the decades, all sorts of pollution - pesticides, heavy metals, sediments and even raw sewage - has flowed into the canal. The wetlands, fed by the streams running down from Makiki, Manoa and Palolo, filtered trash and sediment and kept Wakiki’s storied beaches sparkling. The canal development destroyed vital wetlands and productive tropical agriculture, including farms and fish ponds that had sustained Native Hawaiians for decades. ![]() In the 1920s, Dillingham’s Ala Wai Canal project helped Waikiki grow into the business and tourist mecca that it is today, where high-rise hotels crowd the skyline and attract more than 4 million visitors a year.īut it might have been Hawaii’s biggest mistake. Library of Congress: Walter Dillingham, 1923 It was a scene that, at least for a time, must have pleased him tremendously - he was in many ways responsible for the booming real estate development. 1 Tycoon of the Islands.” Ala Wai canal, fishermen Hawaii State Archivesĭillingham had a spectacular view as homes and hotels rapidly took shape down below in Waikiki. With its arched walkways, imported olive trees, a swimming pool and stone servants’ quarters, it was a fitting home for the man Time magazine proclaimed in 1929 to be the “No. Hawaii businessman and socialite Walter Dillingham built his coral-pink, Italian-style villa on the slopes of Diamond Head crater in the early 1920s. ![]()
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