History of Water in Hawaii

Water shortages have never been a serious long-term problem in Hawaii. The original Stewards of the land, the Hawaiians, took pride in keeping a reliable source of clean drinking water available. They believed that water was sacred and a gift from Kane i ka wai ola (Ahupua'a of Nawiliwili Bay). There is very limited space on our island, and we are also surrounded by nothing but ocean! We have tons of water, but having adequate drinking is a value that even the native Hawaiians held highly. The ancient Hawaiians had strict laws (kapu) for the management and use of water called the kanawai, which were central rules of Hawaiian culture. Bathing was only allowable downstream, and drawing water was only limited to upstream areas.
The water sources and irrigation systems were greatly taken care of, and any damage to either resulted in severe punishment. (The Board of Water Supply)
The laws the Hawaiians had in place allowed their population to flourish significantly though the ahupua’a agricultural system. This continued until the late 1700’s, when the first westerners started to arrive. Plantations and western agricultural methods were becoming more widely adopted, and the Hawaiian way of life was changed forever. Westerners were also highly dependent on fresh water for whaling expeditions in the 1800’s, and needed a great amount of water to be brought from upper Nuuanu and usually additional mountain sources. The task of getting water from high up in the mountains was no easy task, so naturally drilling was the next step to finding fresh water. According to The Board of Water Supply, James Campbell was the first to find a great source of water under the Ewa plains in 1879. By 1889, there were numerous wells drilled around Honolulu. The people of Hawaii were becoming dependent on these artesian wells. This huge success of drilling was a boom that resulted in a bust, when drillers had neglected the wells, and wasted millions of gallons of water. With water levels incredibly low, Oahu was facing drought conditions.
Oahu wasn't the only island facing water problems. The Hawaii Drought Monitor shows that in 1901-1912, the neighbor islands faced extremely serious droughts and forest fires. Something needed to be done. Through the 1920’s Hawaii was struggling to put together a committee to be responsible for the priceless natural resource. In 1925, the city responded to the drought and legislature gave the governor power to appoint members to the Honolulu Sewer and Water Commission. This failed miserably and the water shortages were still prevalent. Finally the Board of Water Supply was created, absorbing the Sewer and Water Commission and was in full management of Honolulu’s water supply. Fred Ohrt was the first board manager, and was revolutionary in solving the water shortage problems. He implemented capping of wasteful wells, and well as casings for leaky wells. Meters were installed and consumers were now being billed and had to appreciate water as a precious resource.
The Board of Water Supply slowly evolved with Hawaii into an excellent and efficient manager of Hawaii’s water supply. They have flowed with the increasing needs and fast pace of society, and are trying to distribute and conserve water in the best possible way. With our current population, that just isn’t enough. According to The Commission on Water Resource Management, our estimated total island supply is 415 million gallons a day. We used 333 million gallons a day in 1998, and that number has definitely increased since then. It is projected that by 2020, we will exceed out 415 million gallons a day maximum capacity by 8 million gallons a day. This shortfall would be catastrophic, and we could lose millions of dollars statewide, let alone take heavy damage to agriculture and personal use. We are at a crisis point, and we can still turn this problem around. We can make changes in the way we treat water conservation; we are Hawaii’s water future.