MAUNAWILI STREAM
By Marika Higgins
By Marika Higgins
Kahawai O Maunawili
Never ending waters from the Koʻolaus
A never ending lifeforce
You fed the loʻi of our ancestors
And you feed the heart of Kailua
From mountain to the sea wai flows free
In a past life the aliʻi chose you for kalo
And today the tourist chose you for an instagram picture
Overuse
Trampling of the ecosystem
Soil erosion
Into the stream
You are the “picture perfect” hike
The stream is losing, it may be lost
Downstream into the heart of Kailua
From mountain to sea
Wai flows
At a cost
The land division is described as “Seven large streams begin as springs and tributaries on slopes in the Koʻolau Range, on Aniani Nui Ridge, and on Olomana, and then cross Maunawili Valley, carrying water to every tributary valley and lowland plain in the catchment. Clockwise from the south, these streams include ʻAinoni, Maunawili, ʻŌmaʻo, Palapū, Kahanaiki, Olomana, and Makawao. At least fifty springs – forty-three seasonal and seven perennial – recharge the streams, which eventually join Maunawili Stream today, to flow northeast through Kawainui Marsh and empty into Kailua Bay.” (Brennan & Allen, 2009, p. 73)
Maunawili Valley in the ahupuaʻa (land division) of Kailua is home to irreplaceable resources which are critical to the health and welfare of the people of Hawaiʻi today and to future generations. These biocultural resources include ancient and historic sites, critical water resources, important agricultural lands, native and endangered species, and historic trails and roads.
From its earliest settlement until the early 1980s (before the development of the golf course), land use in Maunawili was primarily agricultural. Today the lands HRT/Weinberg proposes to subdivide include 50% of the land in Kailua zoned Agriculture and almost all of Kailua’s Hanalei series soil, the richest and most fertile soil in the islands.
Extensively farmed in kalo and other crops and the kalo from the area was famed for its sweetness and specifically requested by the Aliʻi.
Based on land use in Maunawili Stream, nutrient levels are likely derived from past agricultural practices of using fertilizers or possible landscaping practices at the Luana Hills Golf Course
The Maunawili Falls Trail was a heavily trafficked hiked that led hikers to a unique 20ft waterfall that was not managed or cared for in decades. Today the overuse, trampling of ecosystems, severe soil erosion, numerous injuries, emergency evacuations of hikers, and negative impacts on the residents has left the hike closed
Poem for a Kahawai
I look upstream
I look mauka
And I see the Earth that water has carved with its smooth hands
I step in the kahawai
I step into the cold flow
And I can't help but feel connected to these wetlands
I ask the river its name
I ask how is the wai so consistent?
It responds by creating ripples around its rocks and it plays a soothing tune
I respond back that my mind is finally still
For me, Maunawili Steam has always been my muse, a part of home, and a part of myself. I used to play in the stream as a kid, catching crawfish, building forts with branches. My neighbors and I would build stick huts in the part of the stream that had been turned into a concrete irrigated ditch. When it rained hard, we witnessed the waters rise and turn into rapids. The part of the stream than ran through our yards was not an actual kahawai. When the stream reaches the neighborhood it turns into a concrete canal. As we grew braver and older we would journey up the concrete canal and continue hiking upstream, learning the signs of flashfloods, recognizing the weather patterns, and realizing quickly that the hikers who hiked the popular Maunawili Falls Trail, did not always pick up their trash. The days of fishing in the stream turned into picking up after others.
Brennan, P. and Allen, J. (2009). Life Along the Streams in Maunawili. In Kailua. (pp. 73-86) Kailua Historical Society
https://www.huimaunawilikawainui.com/about-maunawili