• Water pollution at Kalapaki Water pollution at Kalapaki Despite years of effort and publicity, our ocean shores are still being polluted. Perhaps the most visible site is Kalapaki Bay, a popular beach used heavily by residents and visitors that
• Water pollution at Kalapaki
Water pollution at Kalapaki
Despite years of effort and publicity, our ocean shores are still being polluted.
Perhaps the most visible site is Kalapaki Bay, a popular beach used heavily by residents and visitors that is too frequently closed due to sewage seeping down Kalapaki Stream. The ominous “keep-out” signs along the beach that are used to close the ocean and stream waters along Kalapaki Bay have too often appeared on the front page of The Garden Island.
Students from Kaua‘i High School have studied the pollution problem, and taken readings across the bay that show the stream on the Niumalu side of the bay is where most of the pollution is found.
State Department of Health officials are doing a good job in monitoring the waters at Kalapaki, and there are times when the bay is closed down for reasons beyond human control. An example is the heavy rains earlier this year that caused unusual damage on the grounds of the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club. And Kalapaki Stream is where much of the storm water runoff from Lihu‘e town is focused, including oil, dead rats, you name it. Streams in similar settings in the Third World can be polluted beyond belief.
However, the underlying problem that can be solved at Kalapaki is the release of sewage upstream from the bay. Sewage from the Lihu‘e Airport and sections of Lihu‘e town might seep into Kalapaki Stream at times. This problem needs to be resolved. Having to travel to Po‘ipu or Hanalei to swim in clean waters due to polluted waters at Kalapaki leaves a bad impression of Kaua‘i to visitors who pay to stay on a white sand beach, only to learn they can’t use it. A survey of the stream through Lihu‘e town is needed, points of pollution need to be identified, and the source of seepage repaired.
While we can understand the occasional closure due to heavy rains in the heavily populated area above Kalapaki Bay, we can’t abide with having sewage flush down-stream when it doesn’t have to happen.
