Lack of rain causes decrease in water level at Lake Wilson

Question: The water level at Lake Wilson is so low that we cannot dock our boat and use the newly installed fenders and cleats. Why is the water level kept so low?

Answer: The water level this week was about 64 feet, which was a bit lower than expected because there was little to no rain from mid-March into April, said Daniel Nellis, general manager of Dole Food Co. Hawaii, which owns the Central Oahu reservoir and uses it for irrigation and as a flood-control system.

“We did get rain in February and early March, but after that it was bone dry. … So the short answer is that we expected rain and didn’t get it,” said Nellis, adding that “at the end of April, if it’s at 70 feet we’ll probably let it sit there” through the traditionally drier summer months.

Lake Wilson’s public recreational use for fishing is secondary, and by agreement with the state Department of Land of Natural Resources, which does not specify a minimum level.

During the winter (usually the rainy season) and into early spring, Dole likes to keep the lake at about 65 feet so that if rain falls there is room for water level to rise without having to discharge water into the spillway, which is at 80 feet, Nellis said.

The crest of the dam that created Lake Wilson is at 88 feet. The spillway lowers the risk that the lake, which is fed by rainfall in the Koolau mountain range, will ever reach that level.

Dole monitors the weather forecast and the water level to avoid flooding downstream, including along low-lying populated areas in Waialua near Kaukonahua Stream, Nellis said.

Lake Wilson “is not designed to be a fishing lake, but it is designed to be an irrigation lake. It serves as a flood-control system as well,” Nellis said, adding that if not for the agreement with DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources to allow fishing, the company would lower the reservoir further. “Dam safety, not fishing, is the No. 1 concern.”

That said, the company is not unsympathetic to fishing enthusiasts, Nellis said, which is why it’s likely to let the lake sit at 70 feet during the summer.

For more information about public use of the reservoir, see 808ne.ws/lake­wilson.

Q: Will there be a Gridiron Show this year? If so, when? If not, what material they’re missing!

A: “Yes, there will be a Gridiron show in 2017, but we are still working on the dates of the performances,” said Stirling Morita, president of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Hawaii chapter, which stages the biennial parody of news events to fund professional internships for student journalists.

Email Morita at smorita1@twc.com to be placed on a list to be notified by email when show dates are finalized.

Q: Are there going to be track and field meets, soccer and football games played at the newly renovated McKinley High School athletic complex? We don’t see any bleachers for spectators.

A: The public school needs money for bleachers to fully utilize the space. Derek Inoshita, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, explains: “McKinley High’s soccer, football and track teams are already using the school’s new athletics field for practices. Preseason and regular-season soccer games are also planned on the field. Large-scale events, such as football games, track meets and playoff soccer games, however, are not yet planned. Funding for bleachers has been requested in the Department of Education’s budget in past years and is being requested again this year at the state Legislature. Once the bleachers are funded and installed, larger athletics events will be scheduled.”

The new field is on the Kapiolani Boulevard side of McKinley’s campus, which is bounded by Kapiolani, the Neal S. Blaisdell Center and South King and Pensacola streets.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.