USACE, City of Honolulu Sign Agreement for Ala Wai Flood Study

News Release from City and County of Honolulu, July 19, 2021 

(With accuracy-inducing clarifications in parenthesis.)

FORT SHAFTER – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the City and County of Honolulu signed a Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreement (FCSA) for the Ala Wai Canal Flood Risk Management General Reevaluation Study. The FCSA was signed June 30 by Honolulu District Commander and District Engineer Lt. Col. Eric Marshall and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.

The signing allows USACE and the City and County of Honolulu to evaluate flood risk reduction in the Ala Wai Watershed and identify a solution (develop a salespitch) that (appears to) balances costs and environmental impacts. The study is fully funded by the federal government (on behalf of pet contractors eager for profits) and is expected to take less than three years to complete.

The ongoing partnership between the City and County of Honolulu and USACE continues to build resiliency within Oahu communities.

“USACE consistently engages with the City and County of Honolulu and they want us to reevaluate the Ala Wai Watershed,” said Marshall. “This study will identify a project that optimizes the level of risk reduction to maximize benefits to the community; i.e., the study will ensure the project is cost-effective, economically justified, technically sound, and environmentally acceptable.”

Blangiardi previously emphasized, “The Ala Wai project is not optional, it is mandatory. As island dwellers we must do everything possible to mitigate the dangerous effects from the inevitable impact of climate change.”

(Not optional?  When has Waikiki ever flooded from the Ala Wai Canal?)

“As a community we must all recognize the severity and consequences of what will happen if we do nothing and a catastrophic storm hits our island home,” said Blangiardi. “This reevaluation study will follow a process that seeks input from our communities in the development of a plan that is both implementable and affordable. The end result must be achievable if we are going to reduce the risks of our island communities from future disaster.”

“We are seeing the dramatic effects of climate change,” said Tommy Waters, chair and presiding officer of the Honolulu City Council. “Given our recent flooding events on O‘ahu, (none of which occured in Waikiki) I look forward to working with the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that we develop a plan addressing flood mitigation efforts for our Waikīkī community and surrounding neighborhoods.”

PDF: Click here to view the signed agreement between the USACE and the City and County of Honolulu.USACE and the City and County of Honolulu.

—PAU—

Reality: Ala Wai? Corps of Engineers has Long History of Corruption and Cost Overruns  

SA: Study tries to revive Ala Wai flood project, which has lost more than $200 million in federal support