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Ala Wai Canal Flood Control: The High Cost of Protecting Waikiki
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is accepting comments until Oct. 7 on a $173 million plan for construction of concrete canal walls, pump stations and floodwater repositories along streams in Manoa, Palolo and Makiki.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015·By ANITA HOFSCHNEIDER
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a $173 million project to minimize damage to Waikiki and surrounding neighborhoods if a “100-year flood” causes the Ala Wai Canal to overflow.
Such a flood — which has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year — would destroy 3,000 properties and cause $318 million in structural damages, according to the Corps’ newly released analysis.
That doesn’t include the economic cost to hotels and other businesses in Waikiki, the epicenter of Honolulu’s tourism economy. The Corps of Engineers report didn’t estimate the value of that business activity, but a 2003 state report found that Waikiki generates $3.6 billion in revenue annually.
The state and federal governments have spent more than $9 million since 2001 analyzing how to decrease flood damage, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just published a 1,835-page draft environmental impact analysis and feasibility study.
http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/09/ala-wai-canal-flood-control-the-high-cost-of-protecting-waikiki/
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015·By ANITA HOFSCHNEIDER
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a $173 million project to minimize damage to Waikiki and surrounding neighborhoods if a “100-year flood” causes the Ala Wai Canal to overflow.
Such a flood — which has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year — would destroy 3,000 properties and cause $318 million in structural damages, according to the Corps’ newly released analysis.
That doesn’t include the economic cost to hotels and other businesses in Waikiki, the epicenter of Honolulu’s tourism economy. The Corps of Engineers report didn’t estimate the value of that business activity, but a 2003 state report found that Waikiki generates $3.6 billion in revenue annually.
The state and federal governments have spent more than $9 million since 2001 analyzing how to decrease flood damage, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just published a 1,835-page draft environmental impact analysis and feasibility study.
http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/09/ala-wai-canal-flood-control-the-high-cost-of-protecting-waikiki/
I have been studying this for a few years now. The report downplays the impact of climate change and fails to capture the complexity of managing storm impact on Honolulu across state, city and federal jurisdictions. In short, if you couple riverine flooding with storm surge, coastal erosion and inundation and broken infrastructure the project has a significant probability of failing to protect Waikiki. They need an integrated plan!
