Editorial: Increase efforts to repair dams

It’s a subject that comes up regularly in Hawaii, even without national studies on the poor condition of dams threatening safety. The latest of those has come from an investigation by the Associated Press, in which Hawaii’s lagging efforts to upgrade its regulated dams present a mounting hazard, especially with the more frequently heavy “rain events” the state has been getting.

There are 132 dams here and, according to the Associated Press, most of them are considered a high hazard: Failure could cause death. A total of 59 were rated as in poor or unsatisfactory condition.

Hawaii’s heavy rainfall has put strain on reservoirs, dams and other structures for many years. For example, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has had to pump out the Nuuanu Reservoir when it’s overfilled, and has met with downslope residents on its conditions.

Broadly, the state’s vulnerability has been especially worrisome since March 2006. That’s when a failure after flooding rains at the privately owned Kaloko Dam on Kauai resulted in the death of seven people and severe damage.

Climate change has only made the hazards more acute, and the need to step up repairs all the more crucial. So far the enforcement of safety standards has been insufficient, to say the least.

The AP inquiry identified some 1,680 dams across the country that are similarly rated as high-hazard sites. Hawaii’s water reservoirs and dams, most of them built to serve agricultural operations, are in many cases near residential areas as the islands increasingly urbanize.

It’s the residential encroachment that raises the hazard level, although deteriorating conditions make it worse. According to a 2019 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, “ASCE Infrastructure Report Card for Hawaii,” most are about a century old.

This is a well-known issue — the focus of the Hawaii Dam and Reservoir Safety Program, administered by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) since its establishment by statute in 2007, the year after the Kaloko tragedy. The program’s annual reports note any repairs, alterations or enforcement actions.

That’s why it’s disheartening that, despite more than a decade of spotlight on this problem, the status has not changed significantly: The prognosis for the dams is still this poor.

The ASCE report card, for example, gives a “D” grade to the state’s dams. Most of them are privately owned, but the ASCE recommends an increase in public funding to support inspection and maintenance work needed to help Hawaii’s dams meet current safety standards.

This kind of investment is something lawmakers should consider when the Legislature convenes in January, when it should also get an updated status report from DLNR.

According to the safety program report filed for the past legislative session, all the regulated dams are inspected on a biennial frequency. The department “plans to retain additional consultants” this fiscal year “until most of the regulated high- and significant-hazard dams” have an updated inspection report.

That is essential: The public needs some clearer idea of which dams require the most urgent attention. And last year’s report only notes two — Wahiawa and Twin Reservoirs on Kauai — being fined, for an inadequate storm mitigation plan and delinquent annual fees, respectively. DLNR needs to hold owners accountable for meeting the standards, through a more consistent enforcement protocol.

By now, 13 years after Kaloko, the state must accelerate its program of safety improvements. Among all the repercussions of climate change, one is that the hazards of substandard dams and reservoirs will only get worse.