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| Kaipo |
—Ain't nothing compared to when I was a kid.
When I was young, all of this was full of fish. Fishin' was easy, but it's all fished out. —
These words came from Kaipo, as we drove down the dirt road to the gate. The gate was locked, and it told people that only authorized people were allowed beyond it, but that didn't seem to keep them from hopping over it and continuing up the road to Waihe'e falls.
That morning I had been one of those people, accept for I had proper access. We drove through the gates, using our keys to open them. The Division of Aquatic Resources (I believe) was coming up that same road later in the day to do research on the stream, the run-off from the falls, and I was to photograph them, after climbing up to the falls myself.
I hiked the road that twisted through the jungle up to the falls, following the stream up the mountain side. Native species have been on the decline in this stream. Due in part to a concrete overhang; due in part to increased water temperature.
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| Native Hawaiian stream species |
First, the overhang. Back in the 30's they created a narrow chute out of concrete, collecting all of the water at one end, and then dropping it off into a pool at the other end. At the time this was used to measure water flow. Now, as the concrete drop-off at the end has eroded away creating an overhanging concrete ledge, it serves no other purpose than to make it impossible for native species to move up stream above that point.
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| The concrete long since eroded away, leaving only a harmful concrete overhang. |
Second, the increased water temperature. At some point, the city of Honolulu drilled into the side of the mountain, and redirected water from before the falls towards their own city. From what Kaipo told me, this about two-thirds of the original flow of the stream. This decreased the water flow drastically all across the stream, raising the temperature of the water. Native species like cold water. Many invasive species like warm water.
= Decreased native population.
Who cares?
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| The pipes indicates Honolulu's hand |
—Many people around here wouldn't even notice if all of our native species disappeared, because they themselves are not native,— remarked Kaipo, as we drove down the road. —What gives us the right to kill them? They were here first.—
The researchers were coming to do research to measure the life in the stream before and after a new fish ladder is installed; a fish ladder that will allow only native species pass on up stream. They are expecting a lot more activity upstream after its installation. None was the amount of activity above the concrete overhang that they reported on their first sample. I climbed to the water fall, and photographed their work briefly, as Kaipo removed invasive plant species with his bare hands and a chef's knife.
We descended down the road in his car, and out onto the asphalt.
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| Researches measure the stream width. They repeat the process of measuring and counting at numerous points in the stream, becoming an all day project. |
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| Waihe'e falls |
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| Water comes down over the Waihe'e falls. Once upon a time the water flowed more plentifully |
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| A rope swings illustrates the respect the gates and signs garner |
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| Clouds hang low over the road leading to the falls |
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| Organic harp anybody? |
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