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Construction of
Kailua reservoir
could begin this fall

Work at the site, behind the
women's prison, can start
when permit is OK'd

By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

After eight years of planning, the Board of Water Supply could start constructing a reservoir in Kailua this year.

The water agency plans to build a 4-million-gallon reinforced concrete reservoir on Kalae o Kaiwa Ridge behind the Women's Community Correctional Center on Kalanianaole Highway. The reservoir would replace four others closed in the late 1980s.

The new reservoir will "bring capacity back up to our standards," said Barry Usagawa, head of the Long Range Planning Section.

According to the environmental impact statement, a low-lying area that consists of most of Kailua requires 9.6 million gallons to meet maximum daily demand, but the current reservoir system holds only 6.3 million gallons.

During peak hours, water must be pumped from other sources, such as the Windward Oahu aquifers. Such intermittent pumping could lead to water becoming more brackish.

Inadequate water storage also hampers firefighters and causes service disruption when water mains break.

The original environmental assessment called for the reservoir to be built on Puu O Ehu Ridge, but the Board of Water Supply picked an alternative site after running into opposition from the Kailua community.

At the original site, the 22-foot-high tank would have been visible from downtown Kailua, could have endangered a wetlands area located below the site and would have caused too much traffic on a one-lane road, according to City Councilman Steve Holmes. The site's proximity to Kailua High School generated other complaints.

"Overall this (Kalae o Kaiwa Ridge) is a much better choice of sites and will have a much less of an impact on the community," Holmes said.

"There's kind of a cinder cone right behind the high school field and behind the women's prison," hesaid. "You really won't be able to see this from the school and from the highway. It's really tucked back in there."

The project also will include a paved access road, perimeter road, transmission piping, landscaping, drainage system, electrical building facility and security fencing. A temporary construction access road also will be built.

The project also calls for excavating a 61-foot-deep crater in the ridge where the tank will be erected.

The Board of Water Supply still needs a conservation district use application permit from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Usagawa said. "Once we get that permit, then we can go forward."

Usagawa said the application could be reviewed next month. The environmental impact statement, being checked by the state Office of Environmental Quality Control, said construction will begin next April, but Usagawa said it could begin this year.

"I hope so," he said. "It's been eight years since we first brought it up in Council."

A contractor already is lined up for the $13.2 million project, expected to take 18 months to complete.