Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 2, 1 September 1981 — Water -- A Limit to Growth [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Water -- A Limit to Growth

by Charles Reppun

The world is a living ball with limited space and resources. It ean only give so mueh and then something must be given back. If what is given back is only pollution, the world will die. The earth is fragile, and all its various parts work in harmony. Water is the essential ingredient, and "fresh" water is the most sensitive form of water. Deep under O'ahu, fresh water floats on top of salt water but if the fresh water is taken too fast, the salt water will take overthe space quickly and fresh water won't be able to push it back. Forests and rain are lovers. If forests are destroyed, fresh water won't eome at all. People move from plaee to plaee as their environment deteriorates till they may eventually fill up all the spaces on earth. Thus it was inevitable that different people would clash over the limited space and resources available. A serious conflict occurs when some people want more than their share of the resources so that they won't have to work. First these big fish eat up the little fish, just as the sugar companies ate up the small taro farmers by diverting all their water. Of course, at the time that this happened in the late 1800's and early 1900's the Hawaiians were devastated by disease, but there were still thousands of acres of taro (only 400 statewide today) and many farmers left. There are recorded complaints of

these conflicts going way back. But that is all a eommon citizen without money ean do — eompiain. Hanapēpē on Kaua'i, Waihe'e on Maui were both onee larger rivers that fed water to several hundred acres of lo'i. Both are dry at the bottom now, with a few remaining farmers strugglingto maintain whatthey have. Waiāhole and Waihe'e on O'ahu are only small trickles now — no longer do oeean fish swim far upstream. What happens when someone takes your water?You move on just as people have always done in the face of greed and conflict. Today, the same conflict is occurring with a eouple of major differences. Pushed out of Kalama Valley, some people ran to Wai'anae; pushed out of Moanalua, some ran to Waihe'e and Waiāhole. Now, there is nowhere else to run. Even the mainland is closed if you want a plaee with water — their water problems are so critical that if the bomb doesn't destroy America by 1990, laek of water will. The other difference in the conflict is that big agriculture — sugar — is no longer swallowing the small farmer. Totally uncontrolled urban growth is the greedy devil now. Unlike sugar, development doesn't even return the water it uses to the earth — it flushes it down sewers to the oeean. With too many straws in the Pearl Harbor reservoir, the reservoir could

be destroyed. The Board of Water Supply's plan to suck every stream dry on the windward side to solve this prob!em was kept under wraps. Then a few farmers in Waihe'e took the Board to court over the rights to use the streams, and the cat was let out of the bag. Suddenly both State and City agencies jumped on the "I am concerned" bandwagon. But nothing has been done and plans go on as usual, with citizens' complaints filed and forgotten. Instead of trying to create a stable, balanced society that does not destroy the resources it ultimately depends on we continue to feed a monster. We allow housing to be built that no one ean afford. The only jobs people ean get are those — like tourism, construction and military — that destroy aloha for the 'āina and all

living things. A few people and large corporations have a monopoly on resources whieh they didn't create and do not take care of, and the rest of us scramble over eaeh other for the crumbs. Hawaiians, and peoples of all cultures who live off streams have a simple rule: take care of the stream and don't take more than your fair share. If this rule is ignored, nature will strike back. There is no plaee left to run to — we have to get involved, examine our own lifestyles and mālama our plaee on this earth. Mr. Charles Reppun has been a taro farmer for the past seuen years. His lo'i is located in Waihe'e and Waiāhole. Charles was born on Lana'i, raised on Moloka'i and Kahalu'u.

Uwē Ka Lani Ola Ka Honua "When The Heavens Weep, the Earth Lives"