- A judge has issued a temporary injunction halting plans for a Honokea Surf Village wave pool on West Oahu.
- The injunction was granted because of concerns raised by Native Hawaiians and others about the environmental impact of the project.
- The Hawaii Community Development Authority’s approval of the project was challenged in a lawsuit.
A judge has put plans for an artificial wave pool on hold until developers can revise an environmental assessment to address concerns raised by Native Hawaiians and others who say the project is unnecessary in the birthplace of surfing and constitutes a waste of water.
In granting a temporary injunction Tuesday, Hawaii Environmental Court Judge Shirley Kawamura ordered a new review of concerns, including impacts to water supplies and planned growth in the area.
A group of Native Hawaiians and other residents filed a lawsuit last year to challenge the Hawaii Community Development Authority’s approval of the 19-acre Honokea Surf Village planned west of Oahu, which concluded it would have no significant environmental impact.
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Opponents of the project say the 7 million-gallon wave pool is not needed within 2 miles of the ocean and another existing wave pool.
Ikaika Kaulukukui surfs in a wave pool in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, May 9, 2023. A judge halted plans for an artificial wave pool until developers can revise an environmental assessment to address concerns raised by natives Hawaiians and others who say the project is unnecessary in the birthplace of surfing and a waste of water. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, file)
Project promoter and famous Hawaiian waterman Brian Keaulana said the artificial waves are useful for competitive surfers to practice on perfect breaks that are sometimes elusive in the ocean. Customizable surfing, he said, can also help create ideal conditions for teaching surfing and rescue skills.
“Our goal of creating a place that combines cultural education and skills-based recreation must be achieved in a way that does not harm our natural resources,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “The court’s decision gives us an opportunity to reexamine environmental concerns, particularly our water resources.”
The judge said in her ruling that there was “insufficient evidence for the HCDA to determine whether there is a likelihood of irrevocable commitment of natural resources and whether the secondary and cumulative impacts of water use , injection, land use changes and wildlife mitigation would likely result in a significant impact, thus favoring an injunction.
The current assessment is “ambiguous as to the specific manner, timing and actual daily water consumption involved in the initial and periodic filling of the lagoon,” the judgment says.
However, the development authority has conducted sufficient assessment of the potential impact on historic preservation and burials, he adds. The HCDA declined to comment Wednesday on the decision.
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Proponents say the project would rely on a private water company separate from the Oahu Water Department, using a supply committed decades ago.
But the judge noted that they were tapping into the same underlying aquifer.
“Additional analysis is therefore necessary to fully grasp the potential cumulative impact of anticipated growth and resulting increased competing demands for water,” the decision states.
The state attorney general’s office said it was reviewing the decision.
Healani Sonoda-Pale, one of the plaintiffs, called the decision a “pono decision,” using a Hawaiian word that can mean “fair.”
“There was a lot of talk about Hawaiians being on both sides of the issue,” she said. “Building a wave pool is not a cultural practice. The threat of a wave pool … is so immense in terms of the number of people it could affect.”