Kailua Residents Say The City Is Focusing On The Wrong Location For A Project To Clean Ocean-Bound Stormwater
City officials say they see the residents’ point, but vacancies and other constraints would make their preferred location too hard to maintain.
When heavy rain battered Oahu during mid-May鈥檚 Kona Low, brown water poured down drainage ditches and through Kailua鈥檚 Kaelepulu Pond as it made its way to the ocean, as it does several times a year.
Now, the City and County of Honolulu is planning to spend $2 million to filter stormwater that drains into Kaelepulu Pond, also known as Enchanted Lake.
But the location it鈥檚 focusing on doesn鈥檛 need filtration as much as a different spot nearby.
It鈥檚 a symptom of bureaucracy that leaves some residents scratching their heads.
鈥淭he water is crystal clear coming through here,鈥 Kailua resident Kevin Cooper said of the city鈥檚 proposed location.
That鈥檚 in contrast to a drainage ditch around the corner, where brown water consistently pours into Kaelepulu Pond during rainstorms.
But the city is facing constraints, Stormwater Quality Division Program Administrator Randall Wakumoto said.
While the residents鈥 proposed location at what’s known as the Keolu lined channel is in greater need of filtration, it would require too much work to maintain, Wakumoto said.
The Department of Facility Maintenance, like other city departments, is struggling with a high number of vacancies. A vacuum truck that sucks debris out of storm drains, for instance, doesn’t have a crew in Kailua 鈥 only one of three positions on the crew is filled.
City officials have been meeting with residents to discuss the issue, and council member Esther Kiaaina said that she plans to include more money in a future city budget to help deal with the problem.
Not Enough Maintenance Capacity
During rainstorms, Kailua Bay is prone to brown water advisories .
The most recent of these storms, a mid-May Kona Low, caused the state to issue an island-wide brown water advisory that lasted for six days. On May 22, the brown water advisory was then restricted to just Kailua Bay, Waimea Bay and Chun鈥檚 Reef. It was cancelled Tuesday.
Residents agree that the city needs to invest in filtering Kailua鈥檚 stormwater.
鈥淒uring this last Kona Low, all of the rainwater from Enchanted Lake made its way into Kailua Bay,鈥 Cooper said.
A handful of storm drains contribute to this flow. The city proposes to install its filtering in an area that leads to a storm drain parallel to Akiohala Street, known as the Akipola lined channel.
The plan includes a row of trees planted between a sidewalk and the road, where water would be filtered . That would need to be maintained about once or twice a year. In addition, an underground filter would separate debris from water and would need to be cleaned once a year. The demonstration project could be replicated at other places on Oahu.
But some residents argue that the city鈥檚 proposed location wouldn鈥檛 be an effective use of the money.
They say that the real brown water problem is down the street, at the Keolu lined channel. During rainstorms, the water flowing through the Keolu lined channel looks like a chocolate river.
City officials say the residents have a point.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying what they鈥檙e proposing is a bad idea. We actually think it鈥檚 a great idea,鈥 Wakumoto said. But he said that the city is limited by maintenance requirements and finances.
includes money for 18 storm drain cleaners and nine storm drain crew leaders. But , there were seven cleaner vacancies and three crew leader vacancies.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge factor, because we don鈥檛 want to build something that we鈥檙e not going to be able to maintain 鈥 Without the proper maintenance, it鈥檚 going to automatically fail,鈥 Wakumoto said.
Part of the problem is that more water drains into the residents鈥 proposed location at the Keolu lined channel than into the Akipola lined channel.
鈥淭he bigger the drainage area, the bigger the system has to be, which then results in more costs as well as maintenance,鈥 Wakumoto said.
Kailua resident Hugo de Vries disagrees with the city鈥檚 approach.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e cleaning clean water 鈥 you鈥檙e filtering clean water 鈥 we鈥檙e not going to have to maintain that very often, are we?鈥 he said.
Wakumoto said that sediment is just one pollutant that needs to be filtered out, and that other things like pesticides and metals can be removed, too.
鈥淚t seems like it鈥檚 clear, but there鈥檚 actually things in it,鈥 he said.
Cost Uncertainty
De Vries said a better idea would be a cinder wall near the basin that feeds into the Keolu lined channel. Debris could sink to the bottom or be caught up against the wall while clear water could still flow over the top, he said.
Wakumoto said that it鈥檚 difficult to estimate how much debris would collect there and how much maintenance it would require, because the larger drainage area would allow for more variation each year.
With only $2 million allocated for the project, the city didn鈥檛 want to risk going out for bid for work at the Keolu lined channel and then receive no offers within its budget, which Wakumoto said would delay the project even further.
He said he could not estimate the cost of doing the project at the residents鈥 proposed location.
Officials have been meeting with residents to look at the locations and talk about future options. Kiaaina said that she hopes this leads the city to study the residents鈥 preferred location more thoroughly and come up with a design.
She intends to put more money into the budget in future years once the city figures out what it would cost.
In addition, the city is considering implementing to collect more money for these kinds of projects, similar to its current sewage fee. The monthly cost is still being worked out, but Wakumoto said that it would likely be about $30 per month.
