Solutions are sought ELLEN UYEHARA says the buildup of sediment and vegetation in the waterway behind her house can get so bad that it will actually form a dam connecting her yard to the Honolulu Country Club.
in cleaning
of waterway
Debris and overgrown plants are
raising a stink in Salt LakeBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comUyehara's Ala Napunani Street neighbor, Morris Ishihara, fell ill several years ago after inhaling a foul odor coming from the waterway behind his yard.
The Health Department later traced the smell to a liquid, determined to be ammonia-based, that was illegally dumped into the storm drain that empties out near his home.
"The bottom line is, someone's got to accept responsibility for cleaning this draining area," Uyehara said.
Area City Councilman Romy Cachola has introduced a resolution urging the city, state and federal agencies to work with Honolulu Country Club, which owns the waterway, toward reaching a permanent solution for a situation that is getting worse over time.
LIKE THE CLOGGED drain of a kitchen sink, the Salt Lake waterway is choking with vegetation and other debris, causing a smelly, unsightly and potentially unhealthy situation for those living around it.
The original developers of Salt Lake, a dormant volcanic crater, envisioned the golf course as a drainage basin for the burgeoning neighborhood around it. But the waterway has no true source of in-flow besides rain. And there is only one outlet.Due in part to the stagnant conditions, thick vegetation has sprung up throughout the waterway, creating major obstacles to the flow of water when rain does fall. Meanwhile, nutrients that feed the vegetation come by way of the 17 Salt Lake storm drains that feed into the waterway.
And large quantities of silt and debris, which also restrict the flow, enter the waterway through city-owned storm drains.
"It is in these stagnant ponds that the rot and decay of green waste and rubbish takes place and foul odors are generated," stated Masa Fujioka and Associates in a recent report to the city.
While the first inclination for many might be to blame the golf course, the buildup in the waterway did not become a serious problem until massive condominium development took place about 10 years ago, said Watson Okubo, an environmental health specialist with the state Health Department.
The city, because it maintains Oahu's roads and storm drains, was directed by the Health Department in 1997 to dredge the Ala Napunani section of the waterway.
Human negligence is also a problem.
"We've pulled bowling balls, golf clubs, shopping carts and refrigerators out of that waterway," said Max Muraoka, longtime HCC chief operating officer and now a consultant for the club.
The waterway has been beset by other problems. For instance, numerous raw sewage leaks from the Aliamanu Military Reservation have spilled into the waterway. The Army has been cited by the Health Department for those violations.
MEANWHILE, one family living along the waterway planted ung choi, also known as water spinach or swamp cabbage, which had proliferated and contributed to the blockage.
Muraoka said the club dredged the waterway through the mid-1990s until federal wildlife officials warned that its methods were encroaching on the habitats of Hawaiian stilts and coots, both of which are on the federal endangered species list. When restrictions were relaxed, he said, the dredging equipment was no longer operable, and the financial condition of the club made regular maintenance impossible.
Residents praised Muraoka for getting the club to switch to fertilizer that does not promote nutrient growth in the waterway and for releasing 1,000 algae-eating carp into the water.
Okubo said the situation today is more of a smell and sight nuisance than a health problem. "But eventually, if the water quality is not improved on, it will get worse and become a health issue," he said. "The odor will get a lot more bad, and you'll get a lot more sulfur in the atmosphere, and people sensitive to the smell might get a reaction."
Education is one long-term solution identified by the Fujioka report. Neighbors pointed out that they are seeing fewer bulky rubbish items in recent years following water pollution education campaigns at Salt Lake Elementary School.
Other long-term proposals include improving the storm drain system, renewing golf course maintenance of the waterways and improving water quality by increasing water flow and aeration.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the Department of Environmental Services is preparing a plan for the short-term remedy of dredging the most severely clogged parts of the waterway. While Costa gave no estimates, others think the job could cost more than $1 million.
Cachola said the high costs involved are exactly the reason why he wants the other agencies and the club as partners.