Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 9, 1 September 2007 — New study more accurately gauges water needs for kalo cultivation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

New study more accurately gauges water needs for kalo cultivation

By KWŪ staff Anew study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and funded by the USGS and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs provides critical data on the water needs of kalo fanners in Hawai'i. The study is the first systematic effort to look at both the temperature and the amount of water used by taro fanners in a variety of geographical settings, and its findings provide emeial data to regulators who must allocate precious stream water among a variety of competing users and the streams themselves. "Kalo is, genealogically, the older brother of the Native Hawaiian people," said OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona. "Moreover, kalo is central to the well-being and sustenance, cultural

practice, landscape, land and water claims of Native Hawaiians, and henee is integral to the future of Native Hawaiians and all Hawai'i. But you can't grow wetland kalo without water, and this report is a crucial step for documenting kalo's water needs in Hawai'i." The study aims to help settle the longstanding controversy over the true amount of water needed to cultivate kalo. Previous studies have used the difference between the amount of water flowing in and the amount of water flowing out of a lo'i, or taro patch, to detennine how mueh water is needed to grow kalo. The problem with these studies is that they do not take into consideration the fact that a steady flow of eool water is needed to prevent conn-rotting diseases and to maintain other proper growing

conditions for kalo. "The lowest water demand documented in the USGS report is double what past researchers estimated, and what the state Water Commission has used in allocating water to kalo fanners," said Dr. Ionathan Likeke Scheuer, director of OHA's Land Management division. "We are very thankful to our partners who made this research possible, and we hope it is put to immediate use by the commission." The new USGS study was conducted during Hawai'i's dry season (lune through October) at 19 different lo'i complexes on Kaua'i, Maui, O'ahu and Hawai'i Island. The average water inflow for the 19 different lo'i complexes was 260,000 gallons per acre per day, with the windward sites receiving significantly more water than leeward ones. Further, of

the 17 taro fanns at whieh water temperature was measured, only three had inflow temperatures that rose above 27 degrees Celsius, the temperature above whieh wetland kalo is more susceptible to fungi and associated rotting diseases. In response to a Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling that water for kalo cultivation is a protected public trust use that needs to be satisfied before water ean be diverted for other uses, such as agriculture or development, in 2002 OHA and the national nonprofit law

fmn Earthjustice jointly sponsored the No Ka Lo'i conference, during whieh kalo farmers asked for further assistance in documenting their water use. After working for several years with other Hawaiian and kalo farmer organizations, OHA chose to collaborate with the USGS to provide an impartial and unbiased scientific study on water use in kalo cultivation. The report, "Water ĪJse in Wetland Kalo Cultivation in Hawai'i" is available online at http://hi.water.usgs.gov. ^

NŪ HOU • NEWS

Water needs for kalo cultivation documented by the new study are double previous esitmates. - Pholo: Carol MacDonald