[ OUR OPINION ]
Desalination plan requires
careful thought, planningAS LONG as housing construction continues and the population increases on Oahu, demands for water will grow. Although conservation and conscientious land-use decisions are key to ensuring that the island will always have enough water, the Board of Water Supply's proposed desalination plant can play a part in relieving and sustaining natural sources.
THE ISSUE
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is moving forward on a plant to convert sea water into potable water.That said, the high cost of converting sea water into a potable product, along with possible environmental effects, requires that the project be carefully monitored as it moves forward. In addition, the board should make sure the public is tuned in to what desalination entails and how it fits with overall water management.
Desalination gains attention as Oahu undergoes another period of voluntary conservation during which residents and businesses are asked to cut their use of water to ease the strain on wells across the island. A hot summer, dry winters and a continuing drought have resulted in record high consumption during the past three months.
The desalination plant at Kalaeloa is two years from going on line and initial production will total 5 million gallons a day, a small percentage of Oahu's daily demand of between 150 million and 180 million gallons. It is being designed so that in 20 years, it can pump out as much as 35 million gallons.
The process of converting sea water will cost roughly $3.20 for 1,000 gallons, not counting the outlay for construction. When compared to the $1.77 residents now pay for the same amount of natural water, the price seems high and although the plant will serve Leeward Oahu, the cost will be distributed to all consumers.
Environmental concerns include the need for a fossil-fuel electrical plant to power the conversion process, as well as disposal of waste water. For every 5 million gallons of potable water produced, 7 million gallons of waste water containing brine and chemicals also will result. Current plans are to dispose of the waste through injection wells in the ground. Although a draft environmental report says "significant detrimental impact" is "not anticipated" on salinity levels, the aquifer's biological health or structure, island geology or sea water, the project should include a way to gauge long-term effects. No one can say with certainty that no harm will come from this endeavor.
Desalination also raises land-use issues that should be part of the public discussion. Availability of water places curbs on housing and commercial development. Desalination can alter those limitations, so policy-makers and citizens will need to consider this new element in land-use decisions.
The water board views desalination as just one component of its resource management plan. Conservation, catchment and runoff control, recycling and sensible use of natural water stocks also figure. Investment in desalination may work to relieve future water shortages, but must be approached with great care.
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Hilo baseball team
deserves real leisSOMEONE associated with future Hawaii youth baseball teams competing for national and world championships should be put in charge of leis. The islands' nines have been so successful that no team should have to resort to makeshift leis composed of candy and Slim Jim meat sticks, which members of Hilo's Senior Little League team endured after being crowned world champions last weekend in Bangor, Maine. They had to await their return to the Big Island to be properly draped with real flowers.
THE ISSUE
A baseball team from Hilo beat a team from Virginia to win the Little League's Senior League World Series in Maine.The Hilo team was greeted with proper acclaim upon arriving home Tuesday, having defeated teams from the Caribbean and Russia on its way to a 16-8 victory over Chesterfield, Va., in the Senior League World Series. The Senior League is a division of Little League baseball for 15- and 16-year-olds.
A team of 13- and 14-year-olds from Pearl City won the Junior League World Series in 1984, and a team from Aiea captured back-to-back championships in that division in 2000 and 2001. Apart from Little League, an Oahu team won the Babe Ruth League's national title for 13- through 15-year-olds in 2001, and Aiea won the American Legion title for 16- through 18-year-olds in 1995.
Hawaii's youth are either innately more talented or are given an edge by year-round baseball weather. Whichever the case, future teams destined for national and world competition should make provisions for leis made with flowers. They're sure to need them.
