Officials balk at near-doubling of price of Ala Wai Flood Risk Management Project

The cost of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Ala Wai Flood Risk Management Project has nearly doubled to $651 million, potentially stalling the two-decades-old project once again.

The higher price tag, verified by Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Dino Buchanan in an email Friday to the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, came after the agency made dramatic changes to the project, including adding a four-story pump station to the historic Ala Wai Canal, where controversial walls and berms already were planned.

The changes, which were unveiled late last year, are aimed at evacuating water in the upper reaches of the watershed valleys without detaining it, lessening the impact on residential properties and natural streams.

Buchanan said the pathway to getting additional state and federal funding for the project has yet to be determined. The state’s previous cost share was estimated at $121 million, but he said a new figure hasn’t been determined.

“We are still in the review process of the updated technical products and it is pre-decisional to make a funding determination,” he said. “The impacts on the project timeline will be determined after the technical information is reviewed and compiled. However, there are several factors that drive project schedule, cost being one of them.”

The Ala Wai flood management project, which dates back to a March 2001 feasibility study that wasn’t completed until 2017, has had lots of stops and starts.

It stalled in late 2019 after staggering pushback from the community, which included the formation of a Honolulu City Council permitted interaction group, protests and even a lawsuit brought by the community action group Protect Our Ala Wai Watersheds. But it seemed to be advancing again after the Army Corps of Engineers obtained federal approval last August for an Engineering Documentation Report (EDR) that makes design changes and adds new features.

The redesign was expected to increase the cost of the project, however, the increase was more significant than expected. The project was originally funded for construction by the federal Bi-Partisan Budget Act of 2018 under the Long-term Disaster Recovery Investment Program with an authorized cost of just over $345 million.

Additional state and federal funds might be hard to come by in the midst of the pandemic-related economic downturn, especially since even supporters are now urging that the project be retooled to fall within previous cost estimates.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a statement Friday, “We need to protect Honolulu from flooding, but the increased cost makes this particular design completely impractical and unaffordable. I will ask the Army Corps to work with the city and the state to redesign the project to stay within the previous budget.”

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who will soon be asked to sign a project partnership agreement with the Army Corps, also balked at the cost increase.

“I am requesting the Army Corps of Engineers work with the City and County of Honolulu on a project that will come within the existing federal appropriation while providing protection to our residents, businesses and communities exposed to flooding from the Ala Wai watershed,” Blangiardi said in a statement Friday. “The threat of flooding is real and we need to focus on solutions that will reduce the threat with existing funds.”

In a statement Friday, Gov. David Ige’s chief of staff, Linda Chu Takayama, said the state is holding off on any further activity regarding project financing “until we receive the economic analysis next month.”

Honolulu City Council Chairman Tommy Waters also wants to hold off on issuing more funds to Oceanit, a contractor hired in 2019 by the City Council permitted interaction group to “manage the opportunity of flood control for the City and County of Honolulu while reducing community impact and confusion from flood control measures.”

In a memo dated Wednesday, Waters notified fellow Council members that he had terminated Oceanit’s contract, which would have required an additional $575,000 payment on top of the roughly $700,000 previously billed to the city.

Waters was part of the permitted interaction group that hired Oceanit but said, given the uncertainty surrounding the Army Corps project, it wasn’t prudent for the contractor to continue.

“Back in November, the budget and fiscal services director told us that the city was facing a $400 million deficit, and while it might have been narrowed, we are still facing a significant deficit,” Waters said. “The state also has to cough up the share that they promised, and I just don’t feel confident that they will do that. An additional $575,000 is a lot to spend when we don’t have an advancing plan.”

But Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, who chairs the Council’s Public Infrastructure and Technology Committee and served on the permitted interaction group with Waters, said Oceanit is still needed.

Fukunaga said there was strong community support for Resolution 21-19, which was reported out for adoption Jan. 13 and expressed support for the “expedited analysis of the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ recommendations in the Engineering Documentation Report, Oceanit Laboratories Subsurface Watershed Inundation Flow Technology tunnel design, and other community-based recommendations that result in a comprehensive, effective and cost effective flood risk mitigation project for review.”

Waters said it appears the Army Corps does not plan to pursue the Subsurface Watershed Inundation Flow Technology plan from August that was developed by Oceanit. That plan would have used two 12-foot tunnels — one for Manoa and one for Palolo — “to remove water from the upper watersheds, bypass the lower watershed and the Ala Wai Canal, and discharge directly into the ocean.”

However, Waters said he felt that Oceanit’s role wasn’t for naught, as it did get the Army Corps to “come up with alternatives to the cement dams in the back of Manoa and Palolo.”

Waters said he’s prepared a floor draft of Resolution 21-19, which deletes reference to a Council consultant.

The resolution is on the agenda for the regular Honolulu City Council meeting, which starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Fukunaga said she would urge Council members to support the original resolution, “which calls for the Oceanit consultant, the Army Corps, the city, and the state to all work together to refine the EDR project.”

“If the (Army Corps proposal) is priced higher than what many people would view as being viable, then what are some of the Oceanit and community-generated alternatives that could be substituted for some of those features?” she said.

Almost everyone understands the need to minimize flood risks in the Ala Wai Watershed, which is approximately 19 square miles and extends from the Koolau Mountains to Mamala Bay. The Army Corps estimates that a 100-year flood in the watershed, which includes Waikiki, could affect 1,358 acres, damage 3,000 structures and cost more than $1.14 billion.

But there’s been strong debate on the best way to do it.

The Army Corps’ new plan was developed to create alternatives to a 2017 plan, which would have required condemning large swaths of residential property and building large retention and detention ponds in the upper reaches of the Ala Wai watershed.

While many Waikiki stakeholders supported the 2017 plan, residential owners in the watershed often complained that it protected tourism interests at their expense.

The new proposal conveys flood waters through the Manoa watershed and Ala Wai Canal, and addresses potential effects associated with redirecting floodwaters at Manoa Marketplace.

It consolidates two pump stations into a single pump station at the Ala Wai Golf Course and proposes eliminating six detention basins in the upper watershed. It adds a Woodlawn bypass feature to Manoa Marketplace to divert water away from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The proposal includes a new bypass culvert for Makiki Stream, which adds a new promenade area near the Hawai‘i Convention Center. It also makes modifications to previously authorized project features at Kanewai and Hausten Ditch, Ala Wai Golf Course and Ala Wai Canal flood barriers with pump stations.

Fukunaga said it’s clear that several key components of the new plan, such as the Woodlawn bypass, floodwalls and the Ala Wai Canal pump station, aren’t supported by all Ala Wai Watershed community stakeholders. While the public may submit comments on the new plan during its environmental review process, she doesn’t think that’s the most effective way forward.

“Do we really want to spend another year going through that if we can find a shorter way to accomplish something that everyone can support?” she asked.

Waters pledged to use Honolulu City Council resources to ensure the Army Corps conducts adequate community outreach.

Sidney Lynch, president of Protect Our Ala Wai Watersheds, said she hopes that if the project continues, “the community and a watchdog organization will be able to have more direct involvement in the further development of this plan.”

“The Army Corps has reached out to the public over the past year by holding many informational meetings yet continues to develop the project in isolation,” Lynch said in an email.

Lynch said the community alternatives were never assessed as Oceanit was redirected by the City Council in late 2019 to help the Army Corps come up with solutions to the water that would be left in Manoa Valley and other areas after the project underwent its first revision.

“Maintenance of any infrastructure, especially the four-story pumphouse in the middle of the Ala Wai which would be built, is of critical importance and should be included in any project,” Lynch said.

Ala Wai Flood Risk Manageme… by Honolulu Star-Advertiser