Record wave pool planned in Hawaii despite the water crisis


Hawaii residents protested the Wai Kai Wave Pool, which would use potable water.”/>

In October 2022, Hawaii residents protested the Wai Kai Wave Pool, which would use potable water.

Mike Leonio

During one of the worst water crises in HawaiiIn Oahu history, protests are mounting as the world’s largest wave pool is slated to open in Ewa Beach on Oahu in February 2023 — the first of many.

Called the Wai Kai Wave, the wave pool is part of the $100 million Wai Kai Waterfront recreational project created by Tokyo-based developer Haseko. It’s part of Hoakalei Resort Shared apartment, steps from the sea.

The 100-foot-wide, deep-water wave pool costs $40 million and allows surfers to stop by for 45 minutes sessions. In partnership with the California-born X Games champion surfer Shane Beschenit will use 1.7 million gallons of it potable drinking waterwhich has alarmed lawmakers and community members alike.

“This is capitalism destroying the natural world in its vain attempts to replicate it,” resident Mikey Inouye wrote on twitter. “Oahu doesn’t need a wave pool during a water crisis.”

Inouye is one of the organizers of the Oahu water protector, a movement fighting for clean, safe drinking water. It was formed in 2021 after 19,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked from the US Navy’s underground Red Hill fuel storage facility into one of the county’s aquifers. The spill sickened hundreds of military and civilian families, and the group has pressured public officials and the Department of Defense to defuel the tanks.

Some of these civilian families live less than 15 minutes from Wai Kai. The Oahu Water Protectors, in association with the group Close Red Hill Mutual Aidsome of the many who still complain about their water have given out bottled water contaminated almost a year later.

“Right now, at least we’re not on Red Hill water, but if this disaster worsens, we won’t have our precious water,” Ewa Beach Sen. Kurt Fevella told KHON.

Wai Kai, a surfing destination with the world's largest wave pool, is slated to open in February 2023 and worries islanders as it would be filled with potable water.

Wai Kai, a surfing destination with the world’s largest wave pool, is slated to open in February 2023 and worries islanders as it would be filled with potable water.

Screenshot from waikaiexperience.com

According to Larry Caster, Commercial Development Director at Wai Kai, the developers worked with the Board of Water Supply to get that permits on the 1.7 million gallons.

The Board of Water Services could not be reached for comment regarding these permits.

“Oahu’s water and the consumption needs of projects that serve the tourism industry, such as the wave pool, are creating an unlivable future for Oahu residents, including Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiians]said Healani Sonoda-Pale of the Ka Lahui Political Action Committee, one of several organizations that have appeared at one Protest on October 13th.

A petition circulated to close the wave pool.

A controversial story

Native Hawaiian practice dictated that to you no drinking water used for taking a bath. “And this water must always be protected and carefully managed for the good of the Aina [land] and for present and future generations,” Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, told SFGATE in an email.

“Here we have a developer who decides to use millions of gallons of pure drinking water in the driest part of the island in the midst of a water crisis created by the US military to create a wave pool on the ocean and thereby squeeze more profits from the development of luxury goods amidst of an affordable housing crisis,” he added.

Surfers can practice year-round at the Wai Kai Wave Pool.  It would be filled with potable drinking water, which has led to protests from local residents.

Surfers can practice year-round at the Wai Kai Wave Pool. It would be filled with potable drinking water, which has led to protests from local residents.

Screenshot from waikaiexperience.com

Tanaka also stated that Haseko forced native Hawaiians into years of legal battles to protect them ancestral burials and gathering places for limu (seaweed).

The litigation began in the 1990s when the developer applied for and received a permit to use the conservation district with the Board of Land
Natural Resources (BLNR) despite strong protests from the native Hawaiian community.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and other attorneys initiated a contentious caseand eventually the case went to the Hawaii Supreme Court, where it was found that the permit violated the state’s duty to protect the traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians. It was referred back to BLNR, which granted approval anyway. An archaeological survey prepared for the developer listed 56 sites, only six of which were recommended for preservation others claimed there were many more.

According to Kai Markell, this led to the destruction countless irreplaceable cultural sites.

Markell is the compliance manager for OHA’s Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council. He earlier too held a position until 2004 as Director of the Burial Sites Program in the Department of Land and Natural Resources in the Department of Monument Preservation.

From the early 2000s to 2018, several ancestral remains emerged on the property, some of which have been identified as high-ranking nobility. This would also lead to another controversial case involving the late Michael Kumukauoha Lee, a recognized cultural descendant of Ewa, who claimed that BLNR again failed to assess Burial Sites and Cultural Practices of Native Hawaiians after Haseko asked to change their conservation permit in 2007.

At the time, Haseko proposed his now-existing Ocean Pointe community, golf club and marina in place of the wave park. Plans for the marina were eventually abandoned in favor of the port complex, leading to a class action lawsuit by Ocean Pointe residents who allege they were tricked into buying real estate by the marina’s promise.

Haseko was ordered to shell out 20 million dollars in case of damage.



It was around this time that the developer released its 1,143 pages Environmental Impact Statement, which speaks of a “leisure facility” but not specifically of a wave pool. As part of the assessment, they were required by law include a cultural impact assessment of the area.

“The tombs of ancient rulers were dug to make way for this monstrous wave pool,” Sonoda-Pale said.

More surf parks will follow

The Wai Kai Wave project is also not the only wave pool planned for the islands, but one of several.

2021 a exclusive territory agreement was signed between Australian company Surf Lakes International and longtime commercial real estate developer Peter Savio, who is now the owner of Hawaii Surf Lakes.

Surf Lakes announced it will deliver four wave pools across all of the major Hawaiian Islands.

One of the first islands to receive the project could potentially be Maui, which is facing water challenges due to climate change and water diversions have constantly threatened their resources and urged local residents to conserve water, While many complain, usage in the tourism industry remains the same.

In October 2022, <a class=Hawaii residents protested the Wai Kai Wave Pool, which would use potable water.”/>

In October 2022, Hawaii residents protested the Wai Kai Wave Pool, which would use potable water.

Mike Leanio

Almost all of Hawaii has been in the last few months unusually drywith 94% of the state experiencing drought conditions according to the US Drought Monitor.

Another wave pool project, Honokea Surf Villagecreated in collaboration with surfing legend Brian Keaulana is seeking a 2024 project completion date and would be located west of Wai Kai Wave in Kapolei on a 19 acre lot owned by the Hawaii Community Development Authority.

Contrasted with Wai Kai, the surfing village, which published its Draft environmental impact assessment Late September would use brackish water.

In an editorial for Honolulu‘s Star-Advertiser, Keaulana wrote that he founded Honokea to reconnect surfers and non-surfers alike with the core values ​​of Hawaiian surfing: family, wellness, sustainability, safety, fun, and kuleana (responsibility) and the neighbor to serve generation of Aquarians.

Some justify these projects as leading to the creation of more local jobs, arguing that the additional income for the area is a bonus from these pools.

Haseko said the Wai Kai project has employed about 300 construction workers, and when it opens, in addition to the retail stores and restaurants, too employ another 200 people.

However, the use of water remains the biggest issue related to the current water crisis.

“This is just one of too many examples of how far we have strayed from the knowledge, values ​​and practices that our islands have always preserved,” said Tanaka of the Sierra Club.



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